The Infernal Dragon Slayer
by Silvers88
Summary: Igneel not only knew of the potential that Natsu has, but also what he'll face in the future and is determined to make sure his son is ready to face every obstacle that he'll face. Natsu will be stronger, smarter, and slightly darker. AU
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Farewells and New Friends**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

 **July 6** **th** **X777**

In the middle of the night in a field that is as far away from any form of civilization as possible are two figures. One figure is a sleeping pink haired child while the other is a giant red dragon. This dragon is none other than Igneel, the King of the Fire Dragons. While watching over the child, the dragon couldn't help but look back on the time that he has spent with the child. From the time that the two have spent training the child how to use his magic to the rare days where the two would spend their time relaxing and enjoying each other's company.

Unfortunately these times are about to come to an end. As much as the dragon would like to spend more time with the child, it's simply not possible without putting the child through more unnecessary danger.

" **I'm sorry Natsu, but this is where our time together ends."** the dragons tells the now named sleeping child **"I hope that you can find something more to live for than what I have spent years training you to do. Farewell… my son."** The dragon finishes before disappearing into the night; but not before leaving one last gift for his son, a white scaled scarf.

 **Time Skip: Two Months**

In the time since the dragon has disappeared Natsu has spent almost all of his time wandering. He spent his time sleeping, eating, training, hunting, or simply exploring. Currently Natsu is sitting by a fire in some forest cooking a fish that he caught in a nearby stream.

He was enjoying the peacefulness the forest has to offer, cooking a fish that's resting over a fire, until six figures approach him. Each of the six people has their own menacing glare as they stare down the pink haired kid. Any ordinary person would be scared at being in this type of situation; however, Natsu looks as if he is uninterested by their presence.

"Well what do we have here? Some pink haired brat that got lost or are you some runaway that thinks he can make it on his own" said one of the figures that appeared to be the ring leader.

"Neither, so what are you? Some girl scouts enjoying a nature walk." Natsu says while noticing that the six men are moving to surround him.

"Cheeky little shit" The leader chuckles "We're merely six friends that are looking for someone that can help us indulge in a little hobby of ours."

"And what would this hobby?"

"Simple, find some weakling and kill them as slowly and painfully as possible."

"And what makes you think I'm some weakling or that you have a chance of killing me?"

"Simple, first off, you're just one kid surrounded by six men all of whom know magic. Secondly, I can't sense even the slightest amount of magic within you, meaning there is nothing you can do to attack us or defend yourself. Even if you could, it still wouldn't help against us." The leader says while smirking menacingly.

"So you gang up on people that aren't strong enough to fight back. You must be pretty week then."

"Don't be mistaken, we have killed our fair share of mages that made the mistake of crossing our paths. But there is nothing quite as enjoyable as the pain filled screams or the desperate pleading that comes from the week begging to be spared."

"You still sound pretty week to me."

"So, you still think we're weak?"

"Of course." Natsu states in a matter of fact tone

" **Rock Blast"** A giant rock is blasted from the leader's hand towards the boy. Natsu easily dodges the attack; however, it resulted in the still cooking fish being destroyed.

"YOU BASTARD! I was going to eat that." Natsu yells angrily.

"What are you kid, stupid or something? You're surrounded and about to be killed slowly and all you care about is a damn fish" The leader asked. Seriously, this kid is practically at death's door and all he cares about is food.

"Of course, I'm hungry and it took over an hour just to catch that damn fish!" Natsu yells angrily.

"Well, you're definitely an idiot. At least you'll be a good source entertainment for us."

"That's it; I'm giving you guy's one chance to apologize for destroying my food and leave. If you idiots don't, then you won't live long enough to regret it." Natsu warns while focusing on the leader.

"Ha-ha, what can some runt do against all six of us" the leader says while the rest of his bandits are laughing at the kid's attempt at a threat. Just by looking at the kid, they all knew that he is alone and he doesn't have any way to harm them, not that it he could to start with.

"Hey boss, let me have the first swing at this kid. It's been too long since I got to crush some brat with my bare hands." one of the bandits said while approaching the kid.

"Sure, have fun Teno. Just remember, the rest of us want to have some fun too." The boss says. What kind of boss would he be if he didn't let his men cut loose every now and again?

"Thanks boss. I'm going to enjoy this." Teno said while slowly walking towards the kid. "There is nothing quite like sound a kid makes when they experience true unimaginable pain." He finishes while in a mad dash intending to inflict as much harm as possible.

While it went unnoticed by the rest of the bandits, the leader noticed that kid still looked unimpressed. In fact, it didn't look like the kid was going to try to protect himself. What's wrong with this kid, everyone else they came across at the very least looked terrified at this point.

What happened next surprised everyone in the field with the exception of the boy. The bandit that was attacking appeared to standing right where the boy was; however the kid was already behind him, holding something in his hand.

"W… What h… h… happened?" Teno asks while slowly turning his head, trying to look at the kid; however, he could barely move. It felt like his entire body was shutting down.

"What, are you talking about?" Natsu ask innocently while looking back at the bandit. "Oh, you mean this." He says while smirking and holding up a small, slightly moving, bag that seemed to be made of the same material as Teno's shirt and some blood staining the bottom of it.

The bandit standing across from Teno stared in shock "Boss, there's a hole in Teno's chest."

Everyone was shocked at realizing that bag contained their comrades still beating heart and even more so when they didn't see a single drop of blood on the kid's hand.

"How?" Teno asks weakly before dropping to the ground, dead.

"Like I said, "you won't live long enough to regret it". You all should have taken my warning seriously." Natsu said before throwing the heart towards the leader who caught it.

"Guess you're right, who would have guessed that you had some trick like that up your sleeve. Oh well, all that has changed is why we're going to kill you. Now it's for revenge, as least we'll still enjoy it." The leader said while casually tossing his fallen subordinate's heart to the side. "Everyone! You are to take this little shit seriously from here on out. You are not to stop until he is a mere inch away from death. Is that understood?!" he bellows out his commands.

"Yes sir!" the bandits answered.

"I hope you know that you just sent your men to their deaths." Natsu says coldly.

"Trust me kid, you killing Teno was nothing more than a lucky shot. We're not dumb enough to let you catch us off guard like that again." The boss says angrily.

"No, you are that dumb, trust me. At least won't live long enough to regret pissing me off" Natsu says while switching his focus to the grunt closest to him.

The kid quickly dashes towards one of the bandits and delivers a powerful kick to his chest, launching him back to a nearby tree. Both the force of the kick and the collision with the tree was enough to knock the wind out of him. He was on all fours in front of the tree trying to regain his breath and failed to notice that the kid was already above him. Natsu raised his leg to deliver a devastating axe kick to the back of the man's neck. Everyone could hear the vertebrae breaking from the force of the kick. The man dropped to ground dead before he realized what happened.

"What the hell is this kid?!" one of the remaining grunts yells out. **"Volt Gatling"** he yells out while bringing his hands to his side, pointing the index and middle fingers of both hands towards the kid, launching a volley of electrical bolts.

Natsu easily dodges each bolt effortlessly while dashing towards his current attacker before disappearing from the man's sight. The lightning mage frantically looks around before feeling a small hand on the back of his head. With little effort, Natsu smashed his head into the ground. As he was about to deal the final blow to the man beneath him, the voice of one of the other bandits catches his attention.

" **Shadow Make: Spears"** says the other bandit, launching a barrage of shadowy spears towards the child.

Instead of moving to dodge the incoming attack, Natsu brings up the downed lightning mage to act as a makeshift shield. The spears effortlessly tear into the unfortunate man while doing nothing into the kid. Once the attack was over the older man dropped to the ground dead while the kid just smirked at the remaining three bandits.

"I can't believe it, it's barely been a minute and the kid already took out half of us." stated the shocked shadow user.

"How the hell is it possible for some kid to this so easily" stated the last bandit.

"How about we kill the kid first and figure it out later before we end up like our comrades." The boss said, not believing they are losing this badly to some mere child. Both of the bandits simply nod in response.

" **Jagged Gauntlet"**

" **Shadow Make: Spears"**

" **Requip: Auto Cross Bow"**

Each one of the bandits launches a barrage of attacks towards the pinkette. When the collective attacks are a couple inches, Natsu brings up a wall of flames to act as a shield. There was a small explosion when the attacks collided with the fire wall that resulted in a small dust cloud filling the field.

The bandits watched the dust cloud in anticipation, waiting to see if their attacks had any effect on the kid. Ordinarily they would be confident that anyone who was on the wrong side of their combined attacks would be dead. However; with this kid, none of them wanted to drop their guard until they knew the little shit is either dead or dying. This kid caught them off guard a few to many times for their liking.

When the dust cloud died down the bandits were surprised to see that the kid was unscathed.

"WHAT?! How the hell are you still alive?!" the boss yells out.

"Simple, you idiots aren't strong enough to actually hurt me." Natsu replied, ready to finish this poor excuse of a fight.

The shadow user dashes towards the kid. **"Shadow Make: Claws,"** his hand is encased in shadow ready to strike.

Natsu ducked under the attack and delivered a devastating kick to the shadow user's side, launching him to the far side of the field. Before Natsu could attack the downed mage, he was put on the defensive as spike pillars shot out of the ground towards him.

" **Rock Skewers"** the Boss yells while slamming both of his hands on the ground causing multiple spiked rock columns to shoot out of the ground, trying to impale the kid with one of his attacks. Unfortunately, not a single attack could connect with its target; however, it did force the kid to keep his focus on dodging each of the columns. 'What the hell is this kid? How come we can't land a single hit?' the boss thought. Fortunately he finally had an idea that could work if he and his comrades are lucky. 'If I can't skewer you, I'll just have to keep you off balance long enough for one of those two to land a hit.'

Natsu doesn't like the fact that this idiot managed to put on him on the defensive. Off to the side he could see the requip user dashing towards him. Thinking quickly, Natsu jumps up and places his feet on a column that has shot out of the ground. Using the still moving column's momentum, he launches himself towards the leader.

"You got to be fucking kidding me!" The leader yells out. **"Rock Wa-"** he tried to say to defend himself but was interrupted by Natsu's fist which was buried deeply within his gut. The leader spit up some blood from the punch and was launched towards a tree at the end of the field, opposite where the shadow user was.

" **Requip: Twin Daggers"** the requip user said as two long silver daggers appeared in his hands. He managed to close the distance between himself and the pink haired child in an attempt to cut him down.

He goes to slice the kid, hoping to land a hit since the child's focus was currently on their leader.

Natsu effortlessly dodges below the attack. Before the requip user could follow up with another attack, Natsu turned around to deliver a powerful straight to the bandit's knee cap. The requip let out a blood curdling scream as his knee bent over sixty degrees in the wrong direction.

The pain was so severe that it caused the bandit to drop his daggers, an action that Natsu was quick to take advantage of. He quickly grabbed one of the daggers and thrust the blade into the side of the bandit's skull. Natsu quickly grabs the other dagger then throws it towards the leader; which pierced his shoulder, sticking him to the tree he was against.

" **Shadow Make: Spears"** the shadow user shouted as he launched another series of spears towards the kid

Natsu quickly grabbed the knife that was lodged in the skull of the requip user and quickly dashes towards the shadow user. The closer he got, the more worried the last bandit became. When Natsu was a few feet away he disappeared. The shadow user, having seen the pink haired child pull the same thing twice before, quickly made two daggers out of his shadows to counter the impending attack that would from behind.

When he turned around, it was only fast enough to barely see the child disappear yet again.

Natsu made two quick cut at the back of his knees, which quickly dropped the shadow user to ground, where he plunged the dagger into the bandits throat.

Seeing that all but one of the bandits has been dealt with, Natsu starts walking towards their boss, who is still pinned against a tree.

'What the hell is this kid?' the leader thinks to himself in panic. 'The six of us managed to take out an entire squads of rune knights like it was nothing and this kid took us out as if it was nothing. ' As far as he was concerned at this point, they may as well been nothing more than a slight inconvenience to this child.

"You should have taken my deal when I offered" Natsu says plainly while staring down the boss as he approaches him.

"Yeah, it was pretty stupid of us underestimate someone we've never met." The leader says while chuckling to himself, having come to terms with what's about to happen. "But you got to admit, who would have thought that some kid kill all of us."

"You're not going to beg?"

"Trust me kid. When you kill as many people as I have, mercy is the last thing you expect. Besides, even if I begged for my life and swore to never do this again, you wouldn't actually spare me would you."

"Nope"

"Then I rather die with some pride."

"Fair enough" Natsu said as he pulled the knife from the bandit's shoulder. "I'll make this quick."

"Before you do that, I have a question. What type of magic did you use?"

"What?"

"Come on, there's no way that everything you did in this fight was just you. You had to use some type of magic?"

"Actually almost all of that was just me. The only spell I used was a simple fire spell to protect myself from that barrage you and your friends used against me."

"Wow, so not only did we not stand a chance from the beginning, but you were going easy on us too."

"Pretty much"

"I was wrong, you're more like a little monster than some brat" the boss said to himself while chuckling at the realization that he and his men were doomed from the start.

"Yeah, I've actually heard that a lot," Natsu chuckles along with the leader "I hope you and your men find peace in the afterlife."

"Thanks" and with that, Natsu plunged the dagger into the leader's heart.

After the former leader passed away, Natsu starts to gather all the bodies to place them in a pile.

"If you're going to keep watching me from behind that tree the least you can do is help!" Natsu yells out surprising the figure that has been watching him.

"How did you know I was there?" asked a shocked, short elderly man that was coming out from the trees. His outfit consists of a white shirt with some design on its front, an orange hoodie with matching shorts and an orange and blue striped jester hat. He has a very serious expression on his face. Understandable when you consider he wasn't expecting to find a field with six dead men that he believes died at the hands of this child before him. His beliefs were confirmed as he arrived in time to watch the child plunge a dagger into the heart of the last victim.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing, over the years he seen plenty of people either die or being killed. He is by no means a stranger to the horrible things that happens in the world; however, he has never seen a child kill other humans with so little remorse. It was as if this was just a normal everyday occurrence. Just from looking at this kid, he seemed like he was living on his own in the wilds if his clothes were anything to go by. Natsu's outfit only consisted of tattered brown shorts that looked like they wouldn't last much longer and a white scaled scarf that was, strangely enough, in perfect condition.

"You weren't doing that good of a job at hiding, besides I could smell you from a few miles out. I didn't pay attention to you until you were hiding behind that tree." Natsu said as he continued to gather the bandits.

"You smelled me from that far away? I must say that is impressive, but I must ask, did you kill the rest of these men?"

"Yep."

"And why did you kill them?"

"Simple, they attacked me; besides, they would have killed me if they could."

"Don't you feel guilty? They didn't need to die, you could have just turned them in and they would have been sent to jail." The old man truly hated any unnecessary loss of life and to see a child as young as the one in front of him so casually take multiple lives truly disturbed him. 'What happened to this child for him to turn out this way?' the old man wondered.

"Why should I feel guilty?" said Natsu, he was starting to get annoyed with this old him. "When they showed up, they told me that they were going to torture and kill me because they were bored and they thought they were stronger than me. They even told me they've done it to countless people, specifically targeting the weak because it was more fun for them. Now tell me why I should feel any sympathy for weaklings like them who kill for fun and target people who can't fight back?" he said while glaring at the old man.

The old man couldn't believe it. The reason this child felt no remorse for these men were because they killed others. The child's words made it seem that he has no tolerance for those that have such a disregard for life. But if that was the case, then why kill them. If he hates the loss of life, then why take lives himself?

"Tell me, why are you piling them up?"

"Simple, it'll make it easier to burn their bodies if they're in a pile."

"And why are you going to burn their bodies?"

"So their souls can rest at ease."

"What?"

"It's something my father taught me" and with that, Natsu launched a fireball into the pile of corpses, thus incinerating them instantly. "Well if all you're going to do is ask questions then I'm going to leave."

Once again, the old man was shocked. He knew the kid had to be strong to kill six grown men that were trained killers, but power of that one attack caught him by surprise. To instantly incarnate six bodies and leave nothing, not even ashes, was something he wasn't expecting. With his age came experience, and he could tell that that one no named attack may just be the tip of the iceberg that is this child. What was strange though was that he didn't feel any magical energy coming from the child. It isn't uncommon for mages to hide their magical presences for a variety of reasons; however, such practices took many years for an experienced mage to hide most of their power. But to see a child hide the entirety of his power while using a spell strong enough to completely incinerate six bodies is almost unheard of. He's seen children with unnaturally high potential before, but this is a level of potential that he has never before in someone so young. It was something that excited him just as much as it did terrify him.

"And where are you going?"

"You ask a lot of questions, don't you?"

"Can you blame me, it's not every day you come across a child that can do what you have."

"Fine, I'm hungry and these bastards destroyed a fish that I was cooking and thanks to that fight every animal around here is long gone. So if I want to eat at all today, I have to start hunting now."

"Before you leave, I have an offer."

"And what would that be?"

"There is a town a little over a mile from here. If you come with, we'll go to a restaurant and I'll buy you as much food as you want." The old man said, unaware of what kind of appetite the child in front of him has.

"And what do you want out of this deal?"

"Simple, all you have to do is answer more of questions."

"You got a deal old man!" Natsu yelled, excited that he gets all the free food he wants and all he has to do is answer some questions.

The old was amused at the child's eagerness for free food. "Then let's head off, shall we. But first, what is your name?"

"It's Natsu Dragneel. What's yours?"

"Makarov Dreyar"

And with that the two head of to the town Makarov mentioned. When they arrived, Natsu was impressed, it wasn't necessarily a large town but it was quite active with people that seemed friendly enough. The streets were lined with vendors selling various items and the sounds of this town had given off calm, welcoming vibes for everyone present. Before the two went to the restaurant, they stopped at a clothing store to get Natsu some new clothes. When he asked the old man why he had to get new clothes, Makarov said that it wouldn't be appropriate for a half-naked child to be walking around. Natsu's current outfit was a simple maroon tank top, black shorts, and some sandals along with his signature wrapped around his neck.

The duo finally made it the restaurant. It was quite busy, not surprising since it's the middle of the day. Shortly after the duo arrived they were escorted to their table that was located in the patio area and a waitress came by and took their orders. It wasn't until he heard how much Natsu had ordered that Makarov realized the mistake he made, he didn't think this pink haired child would order everything on the menu. Natsu even asked for double on some of the meatier dishes. 'WHAT THE HELL, IS THIS KID IS TRYING TO BANKRUPT ME OVER LUNCH?' Makarov screamed internally.

If the absurdity of the size of Natsu's order was enough to shock Makarov, then words couldn't describe what the older man was feeling as he watches the pinkette tear through every dish as if he hasn't eaten anything in years. After watching the second massacre at the hands of the child in front of him, Makarov lost his appetite.

"Man that was good, thanks for the food old man" Natsu proclaimed happily after he finished the last dish, rubbing his stomach happily.

"WHAT THE HELL, have you never eaten before?!"

"Of course I have, I just haven't eaten anything today. Anyways what do you want to ask?"

"First off, why is it that you can kill so easily?"

"When my dad was training me how to use my magic he said that it was something that I would have to learn since it ties in with my magic. But he gave me rules for when I kill someone, he said if I broke these rules then I lose my right to call my."

"And what are these rules that you have to follow."

"Basically never kill the innocent, never kill for personal gain, and when I kill someone do it quickly so they don't suffer."

"Wait, that's it?!"

"Pretty much, even though my dad doesn't have a problem killing someone, especially when he thinks it's necessary, there is nothing he hates more than senseless death or those that don't respect life."

"At least he gave you some rules, if only a few" Makarov said, not liking that someone taught a child how to kill so easily, but also to be as efficient as this child before him is.

"You mentioned that killing ties in with your magic, so what type of magic do you use? Obviously you know some fire magic; however, I believe there may more to it than that."

"You're right about that; I use Fire Dragon Slayer Magic" Natsu said while engulfing his right hand in fire.

"Amazing, that is quite a rare magic you have" Makarov said, not believing how many times Natsu had surprised him today. While the small flames that engulfed Natsu's hand didn't give off much power, the old man could sense a sliver of what power hid behind those flames. "Since your father taught you your magic, can I assume that he is a dragon slayer as well?"

"Nope, he's an actual dragon"

Makarov's jaw dropped to the floor at this piece of news. Not only is Natsu a dragon slayer, a type of magic known to be ridiculously powerful and destructive, but a first generation dragon slayer trained by a real dragon. "You're telling me your father is an actual dragon"

"Not just any dragon, Igneel is the fire dragon king" Natsu said, voice full of pride for his father.

It is at this moment that Makarov's jaw couldn't drop any lower, or so he thought. "You were trained by a dragon king" he stated more than asked.

"Yep, why do you think I'm so awesome?"

Makarov couldn't help but agree with Natsu, he knows full well the potential a dragon slayer has, having known a few that receive their power from a lacrima. But never before has he met one that was trained by a real dragon, a dragon king no less. "I'm curious, where is your father now?"

Natsu's mood dropped at his question. "Don't know; he disappeared a couple months ago without saying a word to me."

"I'm sorry for bringing that up. If you like we can change topic." The old man offered, feeling bad for the child that was abandoned by his parent.

"Thanks"

"If you don't mind me asking, what was your father like?"

"When we we're training, he was very serious, strict, and patient, he wanted to make I was getting the most out of my training. Whenever he gave me a day to rest, he was pretty calm and laid back."

"What was training with your father like?"

"Intense, pretty much from the moment I woke up to when I fell asleep I was training nonstop. It was like that most of the time, the breaks I had were when I sleep, eat, or go hunting. If we weren't training then he would teach me about dragon culture, saying that it was important for me know these things. Some days we would train until my body broke and then continue training for another couple hours. And if I wasn't training with him, then I was training with one his friends" Natsu finished.

"Tra…trained with his friends" Makarov repeated the pinkette's words hesitantly with wide eyes. "By chance we're these friends of his dragons as well."

"Most of them were" Natsu said casually while taking a sip of his drink, not paying attention to how the old man before was reacting to his words.

"Most of them?" Makarov muttered to himself. He has already accepted how gifted Natsu is as well as the fact that he was trained by a dragon king. But to hear that this child was apparently trained with multiple dragons was enough to cause his jaw drop lower than it has ever dropped before. "What else did you train with, and do you know more than one type of dragon slayer magic?!" it took a lot of will power to not literally yell in the middle of the restaurant.

Natsu almost couldn't tell if that was a question or a demand but decided to humor the old man either way since he bought him food. "First of I also trained with a couple demons. And as far as the other dragon slayer magic I only know the one type. Dragons only pass their magic onto those they see as their kid so since I'm igneel's son there was no reason for them to teach me their magic."

"Then what was the purpose of training with those dragons and demons?"

"Igneel thought it would be good for me to learn from others, most of the time it was either to teach me something that Igneel knew nothing about or help improve my strength or senses."

"I can tell it worked"

"Trust me it did, its kind hard fighting a demon in a pitch black cave or a water dragon underwater in the middle of the ocean and not learn a few things"

"Though that does seem a bit excessive, I can understand how that would be beneficial."

"It was also one hell of a way to learn how to trust my senses other than my vision. And training with the water dragon was a… interesting way to learn how to swim and how to swim faster"

"Excuse me, what do you mean by that?"

"I didn't know to swim before training with that water dragon and Igneel expected me to learn how to swim while being attacked by his friend, underwater, in the middle of the ocean. Igneel tried to teach me, but that didn't work out… at all. I'm actually surprised I didn't die from that."

"I am too, how are you even alive after something like that?" Makarov couldn't believe it, he's heard of being thrown in the deep end, but this is ridiculous. It isn't even ridiculous; it's simply horrific to go up against a water dragon in the middle of the ocean while not knowing how to swim.

"Luckily that water dragon thought Igneel was an idiot for asking that in the first place, so he had his daughter teach me how to swim first then we trained in the ocean."

"Thank goodness someone had some common sense" while still surprised about what kind of expectations Igneel had towards Natsu, he was relieved that not everyone the child trained with was as intense as his father. "So you trained with those other creatures to increase your senses, I'm curious how sharp are your senses. I'm aware you said that you smelled me from a few miles away but how precise are those senses are."

"You see that larger man sitting at the table with a bunch people behind me." Natsu said while Makarov simply nodded. "From what I can smell has a mate that is about five miles north here with two people that I'm guessing are their children. Those people behind you to my right are apparently on a date, and judging from what I can hear of their heartbeats, he's extremely nervous while she is incredibly bored."

"That's incredible" the old man said honestly. For a child to have sense trained to such a fine degree is incredible; however, considering what he went through with his training and what the old man knows of dragon slayers, it's not surprising that the child has such high senses. "Though it must be a hassle at times, like when you're in a town or city."

"It would be if Igneel didn't teach how to control those senses. So, what's your next question?" Natsu asked

"I have one left, what are you going to do next after this?"

"Don't know, since Igneel disappeared I've just been wandering around. I'll probably just keep doing that."

"Then I have an offer for you."

"And that would be?"

"Why don't you come with me and join my guild"

"What's a guild?"

"A guild is a place where mages such as yourself can take a job and be paid for completion of said job. My guild, Fairy Tail, is a little different though. Where for most guilds are treated solely as a place of business and their members are merely coworkers; however, in Fairy Tail we treats our members like family, and while we may not always get along, we always will be there for each other. "

"That sounds awesome, but what's with that name?"

"Do fairies have wings, do they even exist? It is an eternal mystery, one that we may never truly know the answer to. Because it's an eternal mystery, it's a never ending adventure to find the answer. That's what Fairy Tail is, a never ending adventure, a home where anyone and everyone is welcome. It's a place where you can go on as many adventures as you like and make close friends along the way. How does that sound." Makarov asked, though if he had a feeling he already the answer.

"That sounds awesome" Natsu practically shouted.

"Then how about it my boy, would you like to come with me to my guild? I'm sure you'll fit in with the rest of my children."

"Hell yeah old man, let's go"

And with that Makarov paid the bill and the two set off for Fairy Tail, ready to start a new adventure.

 **And there it is the first chapter of my first story. So what did you think, loved it, hated it, curious to see more, let me know. This story is going to be largely AU and there are going to be some big changes that I have planned for the future of this fic. Some arcs will happen sooner than canon and most will play out in completely different ways while the more terrible arcs won't appear in this in any way. As far as Natsu's powers are concerned, trust me, there's a lot of things planned for the future, I used this chapter to give everyone a very small taste of what to expect. And if you're curious, no, Natsu will not be godlike at the start of this fic or at the start of canon. I've read quite a few stories where Natsu has been trained by multiple dragons and wanted to handle that in different way. I wanted the other dragons/demons to help Natsu grow stronger and help him refine his skill since I don't necessarily equate magical power to physical strength even though dragon slayer magic naturally boost ones physical ability. And one last thing, I know absolutely nothing about fashion so if there is anyone willing to help me out with outfit descriptions, it would greatly appreciated. Either leave a comment if you're willing to help or just pm me.**

 **And that's it, till next time**

 **Mreh**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Welcome to Fairy Tail**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

"Finally I'm off that evil thing" Natsu said sickly as he lay down on the ever so friendly ground.

"I must say, I did not expect you to have such a severe case of motionless sickness" Makarov said while chuckling. While he is far beyond impressed with Natsu's power and strength, he found this particular weakness quite amusing. And how did he learn of said weakness, well Makarov suggested that the duo take a train to arrive at Fairy Tail sooner. Having never seen a train, much less ride in one, Natsu was none the wiser as to what he was getting himself into. It was far from a pleasant experience from the moment the train started moving. "Come now, you can get over your motion sickness while we make our way to the guild."

Natsu got off the ground, while muttering about the evil death trap he vowed to stay clear of, and followed Makarov through the town. As they made their way through the town, which Natsu learned is called Magnolia, the younger of the two was enjoying the sights as they walked. While not overly crowded, there were still plenty of people walking the streets. The street vendors were busy selling whatever merchandise they had and the duo passed by a park filled with people simply enjoying their days. The town gave off a calm and friendly vibe.

Makarov couldn't help but be amused by Natsu who was trying to take in the sights while trying to keep up. The older man didn't how much experience the pinkette has had with towns, or normal people for that matter, but he could tell that this definitely a pleasant experience for the child.

When the two finally arrived at the guild Natsu was impressed by the size of, never having seen a building as big as the one before him. "Are you ready to go in and meet your new family?" Makarov asked in a warm tone in which Natsu only nodded in response.

As they opened the massive doors, they were greeted by a sight that could only be described as complete chaos. Throughout the guild, fights were breaking out everywhere, destroyed tables and chairs littered the floor and walls. How that happened, no one wanted to explain to the master. Makarov could rub his temple in annoyance. Of course he couldn't leave his guild alone for a couple of days without something like this happening. "WHAT ARE YOU DAMN BRATS DOING TO MY GUILD?!" He yelled, stopping everyone dead in their tracks.

Natsu was experiencing different emotions than the old man next to him. He didn't know what to expect, since he's never been in a guild before, he just knew he wasn't expecting this. It all just looked so… fun.

"Oh Master, you're back" one of the members said sheepishly

"Yes I'm back. You'd think at least once, I'd be able to go the annual meeting and come back to a guild that's not destroyed." Makarov said while heading to the bar, he desperately needed a drink after walking in and seeing the destruction. He knew what going to happen next so he didn't see the point in punishing them, which can wait for another day, maybe tomorrow. Natsu, having no idea what to do simply followed the old man.

"Who's the kid?" "Why's he following Master?" "What's with his stupid pink hair?" the members were muttering to each other. Unknown to them, Natsu could hear everything they were saying and made a mental note to beat the shit out of the person that commented on his hair color.

"Everyone listen up" Makarov shouted to the guild, after standing atop the bar counter. "This here is Natsu and he is going to be joining our family, so let's give him a true Fairy Tail welcome, LET'S PARTY!" Makarov yelled the last part while getting cheers from the members.

After announcement, Natsu received his guild mark in red on his right shoulder. Shortly after that he was approached by one of the younger members of the guild. She has purple eyes, brown hair pulled into a ponytail with two bangs framing her face and she is wearing an orange dress and sandals. "Hi, I'm Cana Alberona, it's nice to meet you" she said in very friendly tone while holding her hand out.

"Hi I'm Natsu Dragneel, it's good to meet you to" he replied while shaking her hand

"Since you're new here, would you like for me to show you around?"

"That would be great, thanks."

Cana gave Natsu a mini tour of the guild, showing him some of the things that he would need to know about in the near future, as well as introducing him to some of the older members of the guild and the bar staff. She had saved the best for last though, introducing the younger generation of mages. One by one Cana introduced Natsu to each of the kids that were at the table. He met a girl by the name of Levy Mcgarden who he could tell really love books, if the giant book in her hands is anything to go by. She seemed nice, though he didn't get a chance to talk much with her since a rather irritating voice made itself known.

"Why would did you dye your hair to such a stupid color" came the voice a young boy that for some reason was only wearing some boxers. This is the unexpected thing, a random stripper. Natsu knew right away that he wasn't going to like the boy in front of him.

"It's my real hair color and why are you naked?!" Natsu shouted.

"What?"

"Gray, your clothes" Cana said in an annoyed tone while pinching the bridge of her nose. She has long since gotten used to Gray's annoying habit, though it was still annoying to deal with on a daily basis.

"Aww, When did this happen?!" Gray screams while running around frantically, looking for his clothes that keep mysteriously disappearing.

"I take it that this happens a lot" Natsu asks Cana

"Pretty much" Cana sighed.

"So is there a reason why he does it or is he just a pervert?"

"WHAT DID SAY PINKIE?!"

"I asked if you were a pervert, you cheap stripper."

"That's it" **"Ice Make: Ham-"** Gray started to say while bringing his hands together but was cut off as he was sent flying across the guild. Gray was already unconscious by the time he finally hit the ground. Everyone that was watching was surprised especially since they didn't see what had sent him flying. When they looked to where he was previously standing they spotted Natsu there with his arm extended. They slowly, but surely, connect the dots and realize that it was Natsu that had sent Gray flying. 'Great another monster joined the guild' most of the older guild members thought simultaneously, though they were impressed by Natsu's strength.

"Wow, how did you do that? Gray's one of the strongest kids from our generation." Cana asked.

"What are you talking about? I just punched him." Natsu said while tilting his to the side.

"Be that is it may, I must ask that you reframe from fighting other members within the guild" came a stern voice. When Natsu looked to see who was talking he saw a girl with brown eyes and scarlet red hair. She is wearing a long sleeved white dress with blue leggings and brown heeled boots. She is also wearing a silver armored chest plate, matching shoulder guards, and a sword strapped to her left hip. "My name is Erza Scarlet; it is a pleasure to meet you"

"I'm Natsu Dragneel; good to meet you too. So why can't I fight in the guild?"

"Because it's not appropriate"

"Really, I could of sworn that I saw you fighting someone when I got here" Natsu said more than asked, not really sure what the problem with people fighting in the guild is. Unbeknownst to the pinkette, that one statement caused the entire guild to become eerily quiet, each of them sending a silent prayer to the newest member who is ignorant of the redhead's temper.

Being used to getting her way, Erza is mad that the new guy was already questioning what she said. She quickly delivered a punch to the top of Natsu's head. Well, she tried to at least. Before making contact, Natsu grabbed her fist, shocking everyone in the guild with the exception of Makarov.

Before Erza had a chance to react, Natsu threw her across the guild.

 **Meanwhile with Gray**

Gray had finally woken up from getting knocked out. Groggily, he stumbles to his feet, rubbing his still aching head. "Ugh, what happened" Gray was trying to piece together what happened. The last thing he remembered was that he was about to attack the new guy for making fun of him, and then nothing. Before he could think on it any further, he looked up in time to see someone that looked like Erza flying his way. Luckily for Erza, Gray made a great landing pad and significantly softened her landing. Unfortunately for Gray, he was knocked out again upon impact.

 **Back with Natsu**

"Sweet, bullseye" Natsu said casually, not noticing how everyone around him is reacting.

"Did he just throw Erza?" "How strong is he?" "He's as good as dead as soon as Erza gets up" were the mutterings of the guild mates

"I… I can't believe you just threw Erza that easily" Cana said in utter shock. Erza isn't only one the strongest kids in their generation, but one of the strongest in the guild with only three mages stronger than her, including the master. If Natsu was able to catch her fist and throw her with such ease, how strong is he?

"I like you already, new guy, but don't think you're big shot just because you threw that tin can around. Compared to me, she's just another weakling" the voice of yet another new person said. Natsu looked who was talking to him and saw a girl with long white being held in a ponytail by a purple bow and had blue eyes. She is wearing a purple tank top that showed off her midriff, black shorts with a white belt, and black knee high heeled boots. As she approached the group, Natsu saw two people approaching with her one was boy who has white hair and blue eyes and was wearing a blue suit with a white under shirt and red bow tie. The other person is a young girl with short white hair and blue and she was wearing a pink dress with red shoes. "Names Mirajane Strauss" the now named Mirajane said with a smirk on her face. Natsu immediately recognized that she is a prideful; perhaps a bits egotistical, and temperamental person, like a certain redhead that he just met. "And these are my siblings" she gestured to the other two with her.

"I'm Elfman, it's good to meet" Elfman said while extending his hand to Natsu which he shook. It was obvious that Elfman was quite a shy and nervous person though he did seem friendly enough.

"Hi I'm Lisanna, I hope we can be friends" Lisanna said with a giant smile on her face. This is easily the friendliest welcome that Natsu received so far, which is saying something since most of the people he's talked to in the guild has been friendly so far.

"I'm Natsu; it's good to meet you three"

The sound of ruble caught everyone's attention.

Everyone slowly looked to where the noise was coming from, most of them fearing the source of the sound since they knew who was causing it. As they faced the shifting ruble a murderous aura surrounded the area. Everyone could feel the bloodlust and killing intent that left most shivering in fear. They witnessed as Erza crawled out of the ruble, eyes glowing red, with a sword in hand. As she laid her eyes on her pink haired target, she dashes towards him fully intending to deliver the punishment he deserves.

Within seconds, she manages to close the distance between herself and the new guy, swinging her blade to dispense his punishment. However, Natsu had other plans. He caught her blade mid swing with his bare hands. "Didn't you just that it's not appropriate fight in the guild" Natsu said while smirking at Erza. She only glared angrily at him in response. She jumped back a few feet and prepared to strike him again.

"What's wrong Red, are you so weak that you can't even touch the new guy?" Mira taunted

In an instant, Erza's entire wrath was redirected towards Mira. "What was that you harlot?"

"You heard me Tin Can" and just like that the two were butting heads

"Does this happen often?" Natsu asks Cana.

"All the time. Even though Mira said she is stronger, those two are actually equal in strength and because of that they have a fierce rivalry." Like with Gray's stripping habit, everyone has long since gotten used to the two pre-teens rivalry and learned to not get in their way.

"So what kind of magic do you use Natsu?" Lisanna asked

"I use Fire Dragon Slayer Magic"

Everyone became silent at this piece of information and stopped what they were doing. Even Erza and Mira stopped their fighting when Natsu announced his magic.

"What kind of magic is that?" Cana asked curiously.

"It's a magic that gives me the power to kill a dragon. It also makes me immune to all fire."

"What's the point of having a magic like that, everyone knows that dragons are extinct?" a now conscious Gray said.

"Oh yeah, if dragons are extinct than how did my dad, who's a dragon, teach me my magic?" Natsu countered while glaring angrily at Gray.

"Oh so now you were raised and trained by a dragon. Who would have thought that you were such a horrible liar?"

"I must say, it's not polite to be lying to the entire guild" Erza said sternly

"And neither is accusing someone of lying when they're telling the truth" Natsu said with magic starting to radiate off of him as he now glared at Erza. He was starting to get angry at the people accusing him of lying about his magic and father.

"Maybe it's time I give you a proper lesson in manners" Erza said as magic started radiating off her as well.

"If you two are going to fight than take it outside" Makarov yelled. He knew how destructive Erza can be when she is furious and he didn't want to imagine how much damage Natsu can cause when provoked. This seemed to be the only way to spare him from having to pay an outrageous amount just to cover the damages.

"Very well" Erza said as she made her to the field behind the guild. Natsu didn't offer any retort, instead he just followed Erza out back

"Everyone place your bets here. Erza Scarlet vs. Natsu Dragneel" Cana yelled out. Everyone rushes to place their bets, almost all of them placing their bets Erza, simply because they know what she's capable of. The only ones to bet on Natsu are Makarov and Cana. Makarov knew exactly how skilled and talented Erza is as a mage and would never doubt her; however, he's only seen a glimpse of what Natsu can do and that only led him to believe that his newest brat had the upper hand in this fight. And that is still not taking into account what he learned of Natsu's training. Cana on the other hand had no knowledge what Natsu can do, but after seeing him throw Erza as if she weighed nothing and had no problems stopping her sword with his bare hand, she was willing to take a chance and bet on Natsu. It also didn't hurt that if the he won, the payout would be massive.

 **Behind the guild**

Everyone stood in a large circle, surrounding Natsu and Erza, who staring each other down.

"Alright you two here are the rules. You both are free use to spell that you wish. The fight will continue until one or both of you are unable to fight. And lastly, avoid seriously injuring each other. " Makarov said sternly. Both mages nod in acceptance of these rules.

"Ready, start"

Not wasting a second, Erza dashed towards Natsu, sword in hand. She quickly slashed at his side which he quickly dodged underneath the attack and delivered a punch to her gut which sent her back a few feet. Not giving her a chance to react, Natsu rushed towards her and sent a kick towards her side. Erza was quick to react and blocked the kick with her sword. Though she was able to block the kick, she was yet again launched back a few feet as result.

When Erza managed to correct her footing and stand up straight she used that opportunity to requiped a second sword and launched another series of attacks only to get the same results. Every strike was dodged; every swipe missed and was immediately countered.

Every time Erza tried to attack, Natsu would simply dodge and send her flying in a different direction. Every time Erza was knocked back she would become more and more frustrated. It seemed like no matter what she tried; Natsu was always a step ahead of her and knew exactly how to counter. What was the most frustrating was that she could tell that he was holding back.

Everyone watching was also surprised to see someone not only keep up with Erza but able to push her back. That wasn't the only surprise; throughout the fight they eventually noticed that Natsu hasn't used a single spell.

"I must say, you're stronger than I thought, but I don't' intend to lose to you this day" Erza said while trying to catch her breath. She desperately needed to come up with a new strategy as realized she couldn't win with the she was currently fighting.

"You're not too bad yourself, and I'm not planning on losing either so you better step up your game" Natsu said. He knew what Erza was doing and willing to give her moment to come up with a plan if it meant he would get a better fight.

"I guess you're right. Looks like I'll have to speed things up" **"Requip: Flight Armor"** Erza yelled as she was engulfed in light. When the light faded, Erza was not only wearing a different set of armor but also had two different swords in her hands. The armored had cheetah print tank top and black shorts with a brown belt that had a piece of green cloth hanging from it. There was a shoulder and arm guard on her left side, both with a cheetah print. She had purple stockings on leg that ran up to her thigh with armored high heeled boots with the left one have a cheetah print knee guard.

Natsu was confused, was this new armor supposed to help her win. Erza certainly seemed confidant in this new armor of hers.

Erza once again dashed towards Natsu once again, but this time was much faster. This speed boost was definitely helping her immensely; she was even able to start pushing Natsu back, if only a bit. Even though Erza was faster; this speed boost still isn't enough. She still hasn't managed to land a single hit. Natsu wasn't even showing the slightest signs of fatigue.

In fact, the longer the fight continued only Erza would show signs of slowing down. Every hit was slowly wearing her down. Every one of her attacks was getting slightly easier for Natsu to dodge.

Despite her armor increasing her speed, it was obvious to her that she couldn't even touch the dragon slayer. Erza was in need of another plan. She decided it would be best for her to keep this armor because it was almost fast enough to keep up with Natsu. She would need something that has plenty of power and range. Luckily for Erza, she had just the thing for this situation.

Jumping back, Erza had requipped away her two swords and there was a massive spike mace. Everyone that was watching was now terrified as they saw a weapon that they recognized as one of Erza's most powerful weapons.

Erza rushes towards Natsu once again and swings her mace towards his side. Natsu ducks under the mace and knocks it away. Erza was quick to regain control of the mace and brought it over her head and swung it down on. Natsu crossed his arms over his head to block the attack. When the mace made contact there was a sickening crunch that everyone heard. When Erza jumped away from Natsu, everyone could see where the sound came from. It came from Natsu's now broken left forearm; or more accurately, one of the bones in the forearm is broken. The bone was on the verge of bursting through the skin at two different points of his arm.

Everyone was shocked at seeing what Erza had done, even Erza. No one could believe Erza would go so far just to win against someone who didn't do as she said. Erza was shocked because with as fast and strong as Natsu proved himself to be, she didn't think he would be this injured. She was hoping what she did would have hurt him just enough to give her the edge she needed to win but she didn't think nor intend to break his arm.

The only person that wasn't surprised is Natsu. In fact he seemed more impressed than anything else. He didn't even seem bothered by the fact that his arm was broken. "I have to admit, I didn't think you could break my arm. I'm impressed".

"You're impressed?! I just broke your arm and all you say is that you're impressed." Erza all but yelled. She couldn't believe it, what kind of person in their right mind would be impressed by someone breaking their arm.

This thought was something that mirrored by everyone watching. The thing that bothered them the most was that Natsu wasn't phased by this. He didn't even seem to care.

"Of course, I was curious how strong you are and I you just answered my question. That's why I didn't do anything special to protect myself. I haven't met that many people that can hurt me this much."

"And you just let me break your arm?!" Erza was now questioning whether Natsu is insane or an idiot; maybe a scary combination of the two.

"Eh, it's definitely not the best plan I came up with" Natsu said casually while shrugging his shoulders. "So why don't we get back to this fight."

"You still want to fight? I broke your arm and you still want to fight?"

"Of course, you didn't do any serious damage; just broke a bone. Besides, I still have a spare." Natsu said as he held up his right arm while smirking at her.

Erza's widened in disbelief. 'Did he just I didn't do any serious damage? Breaking his arm isn't serious'

"I'm sorry Natsu, but I cannot allow you to continue fighting with a broken arm" Makarov interjected sternly. While Makarov had a better idea what Natsu is capable of than the rest of the guild, even he couldn't believe what he was seeing. He knew Natsu was strong, he's more than proven so, but never has he seen someone treat such an injurie as if it were nothing.

"Fine, just give me a second" Natsu said. Everyone watched as he muttered something under his breath. Everyone assumed he was using a spell which was confirmed when his forearm was engulfed in green flames. When the flames faded, it revealed a completely healed arm. "Now can we get back to fighting?" Everyone was so distracted by the healing spell that they missed the slight grimaced expression on Natsu's face.

"What was that spell you used?!" Erza asked in a way that sounded more like a demand to answer her.

"Just a helpful spell my dad taught me. I'll tell you about it later. So can we get back to the fight?"

"If you're sure that you're fine to continue, then feel free" while Makarov wasn't the most sure whether or not the fight should continue; however, he was more curious to see what else the dragon slayer can do. "What about you Erza? Do you wish to continue as well?"

"If Natsu is still willing, then so am I" Erza said as she then turned her attention to Natsu. "What do you say we end this fight now?"

"Sure, let's put everything into one last attack"

"Deal" Erza said as she raised her mace in preparation.

The two fighters' stare each other down for the last time of the fight, both ready to win. The stare down last for only few second, though it felt much longer. Then the two rushed towards each other. Before anyone knew it, they already stood opposite each other. Their attacks so fast, most of the mages watches couldn't keep up. They waited with bated breaths to find out who won. Then it happened.

Erza was the first to fall to the ground while Natsu remained standing.

No one could believe it. One of the strongest mages in the guild just lost. Not only that, most of them had realized that they had just lost their bets.

While most were mourning for the money they had lost, Natsu started walking towards Erza, who was now sitting up. It was obvious from just looking at her that she was exhausted. Natsu reached his hand out towards her and said "That was fun, we should fight again sometime."

Erza couldn't resist the smile that appeared on her face. "I may take you up on your off, but next time I'll be winning."

"I might have to fight more seriously next then. Wouldn't want you breaking anymore bones" Natsu joked

"Sorry about breaking your arm by the way" Erza still bad about that, though she was relieved that for reason it didn't bother or hinder Natsu in any way.

"Relax, it happens all the time" Natsu said way too casually

"Not to normal people it doesn't"

"Who said I was normal?"

While watching the two interact, Makarov couldn't resist the smile that is plastered across his face. Though he was fully aware of Natsu's darker and more violent side of his personality, he was happy to see the softer side. Not to mention the moment the two pre-teens had that would probably lead to a long lasting friendship.

"So, anyone else want to fight?" Natsu ask the crowd of mages. He had so much fun fighting Erza he didn't want to end.

"Sure I'll take you on, Pinkie" Mira said as she walked towards Natsu and Erza. "This way I can prove I'm stronger than you Tin Can."

Erza only glared at Mira, looking forward to the beat down she was about to receive.

"Double or nothing on Mira" "Great idea, Natsu has to be tired after fighting Erza" "You're right, no way can he beat both Erza and Mira in one day" random guild members said as they quickly placed their bets in an attempt to make up the jewels they lost. Cana just let them place whatever bet they wanted, more jewels for her after all.

"Alright you two, same rules as before just try not to break any bones" Makarov said while ignoring the glare he was getting from Erza.

"Good luck Mira" both Elfman and Lisanna cheered.

"Ready, Start"

" **Take Over: Satan Soul"** Mirajane shouted as her appearance changed. Her hair became wild and seemed to be almost standing straight up. Her ears became pointed, and a jagged scar like marking appeared over her right eye. She grew a scaled tail and a pair of wings. Her outfit consisted of a purple one piece suit and matching knee high boots.

"Woah, what kind of magic is that?" Natsu asked

"This is my Demon Take Over magic; it gives me the power of whatever demon I take over"

"That's awesome!" Natsu was genuinely impressed. With the experience that he has with demons, Natsu has some high hopes for this fight.

Not wanting to stall this fight anymore, Mira dashes towards Natsu with her fist cocked back. Seeing this, Natsu mirrors what she is doing and rushes forward as well. When the two met in the middle of the field, their fists collided, this kicked up a small dust cloud. The two stare each other down with grin on each of their faces while trying to push each other back. Once the dust cloud cleared, they moved to launch a series of attacks at each other. From the perspective of everyone watching, no one was able to tell whether someone was able to get the upper hand or not.

" **Evil Spark"** Mira shouts as she thrust both of her arms forward, successfully making contacting with Natsu's chest. The attack was strong enough to launch him back. Not wanting to waste such a great opportunity Mira brings both her hands together. **"Soul Extinctor"** she shouts as she blast a beam of concentrated dark energy towards Natsu. While still feeling the effect of being electrocuted, he didn't have time to dodge.

When the attack made contact, the force of the explosion kicked up another dust cloud, blocking their view of the dragon slayer. Mira refused to drop her guard. After watching Natsu's fight with Erza, she knew he was stronger than he looked. While she was more than confidant in her attack, Mira knew better than to prematurely celebrate.

As if answering her question, the dust cloud finally dispersed after almost a minute revealing Natsu who had his arms crossed in front of him. As everyone looked closer they only noticed a few cuts on his arms. What surprised everyone the most were the flames that lightly cover his arms.

"That was a good attack, but you'll have to try harder than that"

"Well, if you insist" **"Evil Explosion"** Mira shouted as she fired off an even larger blast of dark energy towards Natsu.

The dragon slayer didn't move to dodge or block the attack that was rapidly incoming. Instead he just engulfed his right hand in fire and waited. When Mira's attack was right in front of him, he swiped his hand upwards, redirecting the attack to shoot straight into the sky where it eventually blew up.

Mira's widened at what had just happened. Almost everyone that she has fought was knocked out of the fight from that attack. In fact the only the person who could do what Natsu did was another guild mate that had decades of experience over her and an even more destructive magic.

"That was definitely a better attack but if that's all you can do maybe it's time to end this fight"

In the blink of an eye, Natsu was already in front of Mira, delivering a fierce punch to her stomach which knocked air out of her. Before Mira could catch her breath, Natsu had disappeared again this time only to reappear behind to kick her in the back, sending flying forward.

When Mira hit ground and corrected herself and face Natsu. **"Darkness Stream"** she shouted as multiple tendrils shot out of her hand towards Natsu. Natsu dodged each tendril as he rushes towards Mira once again. The tendrils he couldn't dodges, he swiped away with a flame coated fist. As Natsu drew closer, Mira kept up the attack in attempt to either hit him or slow him down enough to come up with a new plan

Natsu disappeared once again to only reappear besides Mira. He cocked his fist back before launching a punch that would end the fight. Mira was only able to turn her head in time to see the punch coming towards her. It was too fast for her to dodge and she wouldn't have enough time to block. She could only watch in shock as her eyes narrowed in on his fist and wait for what would happen next.

Natsu's fist stopped an inch away from Mira's face. The punch had enough force to send a mild gust of wind when it suddenly stopped

"So, do you want to keep fighting or is it my win." Natsu said as he pulled his fist back.

Mira could only stare blankly for few seconds, still trying to process everything that happened. "You win"

The guild was shocked to say the least. They not only watched the new guy beat Erza and brush off a broken arm they also saw him not only beat Mira but made her give up. The only ones that were truly upset about the outcome were the poor/dumb souls that decided to double down on their bets. Makarov and Cana couldn't be happier about the bets and were fully planning on making sure everyone payed up.

"You were awesome" Natsu said to Mira while chuckling to himself.

"But I lost"

"So, it was still a fun fight Mirajane. We should fight again sometime."

"Thanks, and you can call me Mira, everyone else does."

"Wow, you two were great." Lisanna said as she approached the two with Elfman.

"How are you feeling Mira?" Elfman asked

"I'm fine, a little sore but I'll be fine."

"Why don't we go inside and celebrate" Makarov declared.

 **Inside the guild**

Everyone was back partying, most trying to drink their troubles away in attempt to forget their lost jewels. Cana and Makarov couldn't have bigger smiles plastered across their faces. Cana was so happy in fact, she bought Natsu a victory meal as a special thank you.

Speaking of said dragon slayer, he is currently sitting at a table with the rest of the younger generation of mages.

"So Natsu, we're you really raised by a dragon" asked Lisanna

"Yep, I was raised by Igneel, the King of the Fire Dragons" Natsu said while just finishing his victory meal.

"Still sounds like a stupid lie to me" Gray said while narrowing his eyes on the dragon slayer. Even though he was focusing on Natsu, he only saw Natsu disappear from sight only to appear in front of him to send a strong punch to the ice mages face, sending him flying across the guild. Gray was unconscious before he hit the ground.

"Natsu, what did I say about fighting other members in the guild?" Erza asked while glaring dangerously at the fire mage.

"Don't remember, I was too busy throwing you around." Natsu said while smirking at Erza mischievously. He could tell that he was going to have a lot of fun messing with her.

This gave everyone within earshot a good laugh while Erza was trying to resist the urge to beat the hell out of Natsu.

"By the way, I been meaning to ask you. What was that spell you used after I broke your arm?" Erza asked. She was by no means a stranger to healing magic, but she hasn't seen a spell that can heal a severely broken arm in seconds.

"That was my **Fire Dragons Rejuvenating Flame**. It's a spell that heals most injuries in almost an instant. It's useful to use if you're in tough spot or if you don't want to wait to heal."

"That does sound convenient"

"It is, though it's a real pain to use."

"Really, why?" This time Mira asked

"Because the side effect of using that spell is that it causes the user to feel about five times more pain than what was originally felt from whatever injury is being healed." Natsu explained.

Unbeknownst to him, everyone listening couldn't believe, especially Makarov. From what everyone in the guild knew, or anyone with the slightest knowledge of healing magic, healing spells were meant to fix people up without causing them any amount of harm. If what Natsu said is true, why would he ever use a spell like that? Sure it would make sense to use if it was an absolute emergency, but to use it so casually is insane. Additionally; if Natsu could brush off his arm being broken to the point where the bone nearly busted through the skin and then used a spell a spell that made him feel five times the pain of that, how tough is he, what kind of hellish training has he gone through, and what kind of nightmarish endurance does he have?

"Why would you use a spell that would that would hurt you that much? Even if it guarantees near instant healing, surely there must be a more suitable healing spell that isn't nearly as harmful." Erza asked, unable to comprehend what Natsu has just said. She was starting to feel guiltier now than she did before simply because now she knows that she is the cause of someone feeling so much pain. However; she was equally confused. She couldn't understand how Natsu could endure so much pain and act like it was literally nothing.

"Simple, it heals almost every injury in second, definitely beats having to wait a couple weeks to heal naturally. Sure it hurts like hell, but there is couple of benefits that came along with it besides fast healing."

"Like what? What could possibly be seen as a benefit from using that spell? And what do you mean by waiting a couple weeks to heal naturally? Broken bones normally take a couple months to heal" Erza all but shouted.

"First off, thanks to that spell I now have an unreasonably high pain tolerance from it being used on me so much. The other benefit is that it gives me even more reason to be smart about how I fight because even though my pain tolerance is high, it still hurts to use that spell. And to answer that last question, Igneel always said that I was a freak of nature when it came to healing naturally."

"But why would Igneel teach you this spell, surely a dragon must know of more practical healing spells?" This time Makarov asked, having been listening on the entire conversation he couldn't hide his curiosity anymore.

"He does, he just refused to teach them to me. He didn't want me to get injured in a fight, heal, and move on like nothing happened. He wanted to give me extra incentive to get stronger and learn how to avoid getting seriously injured in a fight as much as possible. In his mind, the Rejuvenating Flames seemed like a perfect solution to that." Natsu said as if that reasoning made absolute sense.

"Did you get injured frequently enough for him to justifiably think like that?" Makarov asked, though he is a little scared of the answer.

"Yeah, don't you remember when I told you that I would train until my body broke and then trained for a bit after that?" This time Natsu asked curiously. Seriously, did the old man not hear a word he said at the restaurant earlier that day?

"You were being serious when you said that!"

"I was, Igneel and I would train until most of my bones were broken, he would use the Rejuvenating Flames on me, and then we would get back to training"

"Igneel would use the flames on you?"

"Of course, I didn't know the spell when we first started training. Plus it was the easiest way for him to know what I could physically and mentally handle at any point in my training since the Rejuvenating Flames also harms the user if they're using the spell on someone else."

"I can't tell if that is horrifically irresponsible or somewhat reasonable" Makarov said quietly to himself.

"Probably both, well that's what most of Igneel's friends thought anyways" Natsu once again said casually, a little too casually for the guilds liking.

"Natsu I have a question, how come you only used one Dragon Slayer spell throughout both fights with me and Erza?" Mira asked. This was something that was seriously bothering her. Both she and Erza had to rely on their magic to have a slight chance of winning, yet Natsu didn't. The closest thing to magic she saw him use, other than those "healing" flames of his were the flames that she saw coming off his arms after one of her attacks hit him.

"Simple, if I did the fight would have been over too soon and I was having fun. Plus Cana said that the two of you are some of the strongest mages in the guild so I wanted to see how strong you two are. By the way, I have to say I'm impressed." Natsu said, getting dumbfounded looks from everyone.

No one could believe what they were hearing. The reason why Natsu didn't his Dragon Slayer Magic was because he was having fun and didn't want to end it too soon. Not only that but he wanted to see how strong Erza and Mira and purposefully restricted himself to find out first hand. Its official, the new guy has to be insane. No other explanation needed, he's just insane. At least he'll be fun to have around in their insane guild.

"I'm going to have to get used to you surprising me with something new at every opportunity you get" Makarov said, breaking the silence that fell over the guild.

"Good idea, that's what a couple of my other teachers had to do" Natsu said quietly enough so that only the master can hear. If everyone was freaking out this much just from what little they knew about his training with Igneel, then they definitely aren't ready to know about everything else he learned not only from Igneel but his other teachers too.

After the guild managed to recover from what they learned about Natsu, they resumed partying with a purpose. Now they are celebrating the new ridiculously strong guild member they have. The party would last until the late hours of the night. Not having a place to stay, Makarov offered Natsu to stay in the infirmary until he can find a place live which Natsu easily accepted

 **And there you have it, the end of the second chapter. Before I continue with this AN, I would like to thank everyone that has read, followed and favorited this story. I spent a couple months working on the first chapter and almost didn't' release it because I wasn't sure if anyone would like or would be interested enough to read it. So again, thank you. Now a couple of things that I forgot to mention in the previous chapter's AN. For the sake of this story I made Natsu older than in canon for the simple reason that it would give a couple more years to train. Currently he is about the same age as Erza and Mira. I couldn't think of a way to add this in here somewhere where it wouldn't seem weird and out of place. The other thing I forgot to mention was what the pairing will be and I decided to make it a harem because I couldn't decide if I would pair Natsu up Mira, Ultear, or Sayla. So as of this moment the harem will consist of around eight to ten girls with the three previously mentioned girls and at least one OC are the only guarantees to be in it and more than likely so will Cana, so if you have a suggestion, leave a comment. I'll try to set it up in a way where every girl that is a part of it will have a real reason for falling for Natsu. Additionally, the only girls that won't be in the harem will be Lucy, Flare, and Wendy. Lucy and Flare won't be in it because I'm not personally a fan of pairing either of them up with Natsu, not that I have anything against those pairings I'm just not a fan and don't want to write something I'm not interested in. Wendy won't be in it because of two reasons: the first is the age difference between the two since their now around seven years apart and the second is because of what I have planned for this fic, it wouldn't make as much sense. Sorry to all the NaWen fans, I'm one too, but it won't happen in this fic. One last thing, if anyone has a question then please leave a comment. I'll be more than happy to answer whatever I can. Speaking of which**

 **gameking26/jacquelineviena: Originally the Water Dragon Slayer was going to an OC just because I never considered having Juvia fill in for that spot and now I love the idea. So thanks to the two you, I need to rethink some things. But to answer your question it will either be an OC, Juvia, or both. I don't know yet.**

 **Till next time**

 **Mreh**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: First Job**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

It's the morning after Natsu joined Fairy Tail and if he learned anything from the previous night it's the guild knows how to throw one hell of a welcome party. Most of them didn't even go home once the party was over, they just passed out on the floor, table, or in a pile of other guild mates. Currently he is sitting at the bar enjoying his breakfast, courteous of the bar staff.

"Good Morning Natsu" Makarov said while approaching pinkette. "How are you enjoying the guild so far?"

"I like it so far, this place is definitely a lot of fun" Natsu said in between bites.

"That's good to hear. So, what are your plans for today?"

"As much as I like the beds in the infirmary, I could use some jewels."

"Then why not take a quest, I'm sure with your skills you can easily find a suitable job"

"Good idea old man, thanks" Natsu said, having just finished his meal he made his way to the request board. The board was filled with quest, some asking for help with mundane task such as finding a lost pet or gathering certain plant for medicines while others were seeking help with bandits terrorizing routes between towns. However; while scanning the board Natsu found a job that caught his immediate attention. It is an extermination quest seeking a mage willing to take care of a pack of beast that has been endangering a village. None of it seemed like anything that Natsu couldn't handle, but he couldn't help but notice something weird about it though. There was no information on the beast that needed to be taken care of. Nothing to indicate what kind of beast they are, what their numbers are, what their capable of, are or even how difficult the job would be. However; one piece of information that was included was the 500,000 jewel which is enough to catch Natsu's attention.

Deciding that he could learn all of this information late, Natsu decided to take the quest to Makarov to get it approved. After looking the quest over, Makarov wasn't surprised to see Natsu pick this kind of job though he is relieved to see that Natsu wouldn't be fighting any humans, he isn't looking forward to the day when everyone finds out about what the dragon slayer was trained to do. Hopefully he'll be able to convince Natsu to change his stance on killing before it becomes an issue. While looking over the quest, the old man couldn't help but notice the lack of information that would normally come with this type of quest. "That's quite the job you chose, are you sure you want to take this on for your first job?"

"Of course, it's just hunting some dangerous beast. I did it all the time before Igneel disappeared."

"Very well, but let's see if we can find someone to go along with you so that you can learn how to properly interact with clients." Makarov said while taking a look around the guild to see who would be available. After a quick look, the old man found a great candidate. "Mira, would you please come over here for a moment?"

"Sure, what do you need Master?" Mira asked as she approached the two

"Would you mind accompanying Natsu on his first quest and show him the ropes?"

"What's the quest?"

"A hunting quest with no information on what you will be hunting; however, I'm sure with both yours and Natsu's skill that you'll be done and on your way back before the end of the day."

"Sure I'll go. Let me tell Elfman and Lisanna and I'll be ready to go. I'll meet you outside in a bit" Mira said to Natsu as she started to make her way to her siblings to let them know that she will be leaving shortly.

"Good luck on your mission Natsu, make sure you and Mira return safely." Makarov said as he went to approve the quest.

"Yeah, will do Gramps" Natsu said as he made his way outside. Makarov cracked a smile at the nickname Natsu gave him; he figured that his newest member will call him master like the rest of the guild does eventually.

Natsu waited in front of the guild hall for only few minutes before Mira arrived. "You ready to go?"

"Yep, just had to tell my siblings that I won't be gone long. Hopefully we can finish it and be back before the day is. I forgot to ask earlier but how much does it pay anyway?" Mira said as she started to make her way through the town with Natsu following right beside her, assuming that she already knew where they had to go.

"500,000 jewels"

"We're getting that much just to take care of some beast?!" Mira almost yelled

"Yeah, but keep in mind we know nothing about it or how many there are"

"Good point, this thing must be dangerous if we're getting paid that much."

"No kidding, but I'm sure we can handle it. Anyways do you where this town is." Natsu asked. The flier the job was posted on stated that they were to meet the mayor in a town called Aravis but the young mage had no idea where that town is located.

"I do actually, Master told which way would be the quickest way to get to the town. He even gave a very important warning." Mira said as she turned a corner.

"What, did he learn something about the job? Does he know what kind of beast we're fighting?" Natsu said as followed Mira around the corner, his blood running cold at the sight before him.

"No, he warned me about your motion sickness." Mira said as she stood in front of the train station.

"There is no way in hell I am getting on one of those death traps!" Natsu yelled in fear. The suffering he experienced the day before still fresh on his mind. He turned to quickly walk away but was stopped as Mira grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him towards the station with Natsu struggling to break free the whole time.

"Oh yes you are getting on that death trap. You don't know where you're going and I'm not walking all the way there." Mira said as she was finding a lot of joy in how much the pinkette is apparently scared by trains.

"Come on, Please! Why can't we just walk?" Natsu pleaded.

"Because it'll take two days just to walk there and I told by siblings that I'd be back by tonight. So either you can man up and get on that train willingly or I'll just keep dragging you. Either way, you're getting on that damn train." Mira said while smirking evilly. She knew that she couldn't threaten Natsu with violence since he is the stronger of the two of them, but his fear of trains was overriding the logical and rational side of his brain was making this much easier for her.

Natsu continued to plea the whole time as Mira continued to drag him to his doom. Most of the men watching felt sorry the young pinkette as they hoped that whatever he did to deserve such treatment was worth it while the women that were watching with a feeling of pride as they internally approved of the goth girl's actions, assuming that she is punishing the boy for something he did. Regardless; everyone was laughing at the scene before them.

 **Time Skip: 1 Hour**

If Mira felt joy at Natsu trying, and failing, to escape her clutches then words cannot describe what she was feeling at the sight of the dragon slayer suffering from what could only be described as severe motion sickness. To see someone, no older than herself, who effortlessly defeated her and that tin can Erza while barely using any magic suffer so much is quite possibly her new favorite thing. The downside is that the train ride will only last for another two hours. Oh well, at least there is the train ride back.

 **Scene Change: Aravis, two hours later**

As soon as the train stopped at the station, Natsu dived out and immediately hugged ground and swore to never get on another death trap. He didn't even wait for the train doors to open; he just dived out the window as soon as he could move without feeling the full effect of his motion sickness.

Literally a few seconds later Mira walked off the train and looked down at where Natsu is "You really couldn't wait a few seconds to walk off the train" she said stoically. She knew that he would want to get off the train as fast as possible but to jump out the second it stopped moving seemed like a bit much. At least it gave her something else to make fun of him for.

"You really are a demon, you know that right?" Natsu grumbled as he continued to hug the ground.

"Of course" Mira stated happily.

After a few more seconds of hugging the ground, Natsu got up and the duo made their way through the town. According to the flier they were to meet with the mayor at the town hall. After asking around a bit they found where they were supposed to go. Once they showed up they were escorted to the mayor's office by the secretary. When they arrived at the office they were introduced to a man that looked to either be in his late thirties or early forties and is wearing a black suit. He is clean shaven with well-kept black hair with slight graying on the sides.

"You must be the mages from Fairy Tail. My name is Alexander Botaris, and as I can assume you have figured out, I am the mayor of this town as well as the person who put out the request" the mayor said. Judging from the way speaks; he comes across as someone who is well educated and very formal in how he conducts business. "I don't mean to sound rude, but aren't you two a little young to be doing this kind of work?"

"If we weren't, do you really think our master would allow us to accept this job" Mira said with a fake smile and her eye twitching. This isn't the first time someone questioned whether she should be doing a job because of her age.

"That is a fair point. My apologies, but given how dangerous this job is I wouldn't feel comfortable sending mages unless I knew they were capable."

"If we weren't capable to begin with then our master never would have approved us taking this job to begin with. He cares about our safety above all else and he wouldn't send us out on a job he knew we aren't qualified for. So I can assure you we handle whatever anything that is thrown at us." Mira said, doing her best to assure the mayor that the two of them can handle this job.

Natsu is surprised by how Mira is acting. From what he saw the previous day, she isn't the type of person that liked when someone questioned her strength. But to see her trying to assure the client and be professional is definitely unexpected and not in a bad way.

"Why don't you tell us about what you need us to do. The only information on the flier was that we need to take care of some dangerous beast."

"Under the given situation, I guess I don't have much of choice. The reason why there is so little information is that very little known about the beasts. The only information we have is that these creatures hunt in large pack and they're extraordinarily dangerous."

"When did these creatures start showing up?" Natsu asked

"We started to notice something a little over a week ago. One day people started disappearing after walking into the forest. After a couple days I had a hunting party go out in search for the missing people. Later that day only one of them made it back alive, though he was in critical condition. Before he passed away from his injuries he did inform us that there a great many of them and that they were ambushed by these creatures." The mayor said solemnly, the image of the man that was covered in blood with numerous lacerations across his body still fresh on his mind. How the poor hunter managed to escape and make it back to the village while still drawing breath is still something the mayor couldn't believe. "As you can imagine, because of these creatures, the villagers are far too scared to enter the forest, understandably so. This is also greatly affecting our economy since no one is willing to import or export any goods."

"So you have no other information?" Mira asked

"Unfortunately no"

"Do you have any idea of where those hunters started searching?" Natsu asked

"No, all I can tell you is that they head east when they left the village and when the one hunter came back, it was near the norther entrance."

"Thanks, that'll be more than enough for me to find these things" Natsu said as he stood up.

"Don't worry; we'll be sure to get rid of these beasts for good" Mira said as her and Natsu made their way outside.

"I'm guessing you have some sort of plan since you apparently know how to find these things" Mira asked.

"Simple, go east and follow the scent of blood" Natsu said casually.

"And how do you plan to do that?"

"A side effect of becoming a dragon slayer is that all of our senses become significantly sharper than your average human. So I figure we just head east and follow the scent of blood and any group of creatures whose scent is different from this forest."

"How do you know their scent is different from the forest. Doesn't all forest smell the same?"

"No, while most forests do smell similar, there is always a slight difference in their scent. And if these things were here any longer the village would have noticed them much sooner. Since these things came from somewhere else and they haven't been here long enough for their scents to change, I just have to sniff out anything that smells different.

"Is your nose really that strong?"

"Yep, I can smell just about everyone and thing within a few miles of here."

"Does that mean you already know where these beasts are?" Mira said with a glimmer of hope. Maybe they can find these things, finish the job, and be back in Magnolia sooner then she thought.

"Nope, from what I can tell we're going for a long nature walk."

"Great" Mira said sarcastically as the duo made their way to the forest to begin their hunt

As they make their way through the forest both mages couldn't help but notice an odd silence. There were no birds chirping, no crickets chirping, there wasn't even any wind that blowing through the branches of the trees and bushes. The only thing they could hear was their own footsteps. It's as if there was absolute nothingness in this part of the forest.

"Hey Natsu, do you mind if I ask you a couple questions" Mira ask, hoping this alleviate her boredom

"I don't mind, what do you want to know?" Natsu said while sniffing the surrounding area

"What was training with your father like? I know you said he was serious and a pretty extreme; but was he always like that?"

"No, whenever he would show me a new move he would always take his time to make sure I understood what he was teaching me. Actually the only time that he was really tough on me was during my physical training and whenever we would spar. Other than that, he was a very calm and patient."

"Did he teach you any other magic besides your Dragon Slayer magic?"

"Kind of, he did help me learn normal Fire magic but all the moves I learned were more tailored towards my fighting style instead of learning how to do what Igneel can do."

"Did you learn anything else from him?"

"Lots, but as far as magic goes, that's it."

"I have another question that's been bugging me" Mira said while narrowing her eyes on Natsu to see how he would react. This is something that has been bother her since she first met him and was hoping that fighting him would have answered her questions. "Why do I sense demonic energy within you?"

"Uh, I'm surprised that you were able to sense it. I'm not sure if Gramps even noticed it." Natsu said, genuinely surprised by what Mira asked.

"You can thank my demon souls for that. Because of them I got really good at sensing that type of energy. So, are you going to answer my question or keep trying to dodge it?"

Natsu ignites engulfs his hands in flames, however these flames were the red and orange flames that she saw coming off his body after one of her attacks hit him nor were they like the green and white flames that he used to heal his broken arm. These flames were purple and black and were giving off a dark energy. "What you're sensing is my Fire Devil Slayer magic" Natsu said as he dispersed his purple and black flames.

"Who taught you how to use those flames?"

"How do you know that Igneel didn't teach me?"

"Because you already said that he only taught you two different magics, so unless you're a liar that means someone else taught you that third magic of yours."

"Good point, it's something that I picked up from this demon I trained under."

"You trained under a demon?"

"Yeah, I actually trained with quite a few dragons and demons."

"Wait a minute, if what I'm sensing is your devil slayer magic, then how come how come I sense demon energy instead of magical energy?"

"It's a side effect of slayer magic. The slayer's body adapts to the magic of the creature we're trained to kill and changes so that we're not harmed by our magic. So because of my magic, I'm part dragon and demon."

"That… that explains why you're so strong." Mira said while in shock of what she had just learned. "So why did your father have you train with so many other dragons and demons?"

"Igneel said I had a lot of potential and he wanted to make sure I lived up to those expectations. While Igneel was a great teacher but there were somethings that he couldn't teach me. He couldn't teach me how to fight like a human because he's a dragon and I use to try to perform my attacks the same way he did. There were also things that some of his friends were more qualified to teach me."

"That explains why you're so hellishly strong you are. Do you know any other types of magic?"

"Nope, I just know the three for now."

"Really?" Mira ask skeptically. "After all that training under all those dragons and demons you didn't pick up any of their other magic"

"No, dragons only pass their magic onto those they see as their children and most of the demon's magics weren't good fits for me so most just helped me train to improve my physical strength, further develop my fighting style, how to develop a strategy on the fly, and a few other useful things."

Mira took a moment process everything she just heard, she came to a realization that there really us a massive gap in strength and power. "Why didn't you tell the guild about all of that?"

"There are a few reasons. The first one is that no one asked so I didn't see a point in telling them. The second is that with how they acted just from learning about my training with Igneel, I didn't think it would be good idea to tell them everything. And the last reason is that I don't want to give away all my tricks. Have any more questions?"

"Just one, would it be okay if I trained with you?"

"You want to train with me?" Natsu asked incredulously

"Of course, you trained with real demons and learned first-hand from them so you know better than anyone else what they're capable of. If I train with you then I can expand on my Take-Over magic in more ways than I ever thought. Plus I'll definitely surpass that annoying Tin Can after training with you."

"Wow, you must really not like Erza."

"I wouldn't say that I don't like her, we're just really competitive and she knows how to get under my skin. Anyways, can I train with you?" Mira asked once again, giving Natsu the puppy dog eyes, hoping that he won't be able to say no to her secret weapon

There it is the look that Natsu dreaded. He knows a couple of other slayers that have you used the same look on him when they want something from him. And like with those previous times, he just couldn't say no. "If you think you can handle it, then sure. But keep in mind that it won't be easy."

"If it was going to be easy, I'd be disappointed. Besides, I love a challenge." Mira said happily.

"Good to hear" Natsu said, also with a smile, but this is coming from just seeing Mira's excitement. "I have a question, who taught you how to use your magic?"

"No one, I'm mostly self-taught. The only thing anyone taught me was Master and that was just how to control my magic" Mira said.

"Really, you're self-taught? Man, you're more awesome than I thought."

"Oh what, did you think I was some weakling or something" Mira said while glaring at the dragon slayer.

"Not at all, I was just surprised to hear that you're self-taught. I thought with how skilled you are with fighting and magic that you definitely trained under someone. I'm actually impressed. So, how did you get your magic?"

"I… I rather not talk about it." Mira said, hoping to avoid telling how she unlocked her magic.

"Too personal?"

"More like it wasn't the best time for me when it happened."

"I'm sorry for bringing it up then" Natsu said, hoping to avoid touching a sensitive nerve with someone he only met yesterday.

"Don't be, you didn't know" Mira said, doing her best to get some unpleasant memories out of her head.

"Do Elfman and Lisanna use the same magic as you? They didn't say what kind they used when we met yesterday."

"Kind of, they both know Take Over but they both use different souls. Elfman uses Beasts Soul while Lisanna uses Animal Soul."

Natsu was about to ask more when a scent caught his attention, one that he is very familiar with. The two came across a clearing, and the sight before them could only be described as a massacre. They found the hunting party that the mayor had sent out. Well, it's more accurate to say they found their remains. Each corpse looked like they were chewed up, ripped apart, and forced through a meat grinder. The scent of death permeated the air around them.

Mira was covering her mouth in shock, she's seen how brutal some beast can be when they kill, but this is a level violence that she hasn't seen. Natsu on the other only had a dark look on his face. From Mira's perspective, he looked as if this sight was all old hat to him, like it was a sight he came across far too many times.

"It looks like we found the hunting party." Natsu said as he started to inspect one of the bodies. "After seeing this, I'm surprised that one of the hunters managed to make it back to the village."

"What are you doing?" Mira asks, not liking how casual Natsu is when facing group of dead people.

"Figuring out what were up against. Looking at these deep cuts, these creatures definitely have sharp claws and they prefer to swipe at their prey. Most of these cuts are about the same depth of each other, so I think they like to inflict as much pain as possible before killing their prey."

"How can you tell?"

"Because their bodies are cover in these type of cuts. If I had to guess these thing could have killed them after a swipe or two."

"Can you smell the creatures that did this?"

"I can, and they're not far from here. What do you think we should do with the bodies?"

"It's going to be too difficult to take them back to village, especially with the condition they're in. And we can't take them back until after we take care of the beasts that did this. Plus, taking them back might traumatize the villagers given the condition they're in."

"Good point and leaving them like this is disrespectful. I'll take care of this." Natsu said before sending a ball of fire towards the corpses. They were completely incarnated almost instantly. "I hope all of you find peace in the afterlife."

Internally Mira agreed that cremating the corpses was probably the best option given the situation; however, she was slightly disturbed by the ease at which Natsu came to that decision and how willing he was to incinerate the bodies then and there.

Not wanting to waste any time, the duo made their way to where Natsu smelled them at. After only another half an hour they came across another clearing when Natsu suddenly came to a stop.

"Mira, get ready."

"For what?"

"I'm pretty sure that those creatures know we're here. And they're starting to move this may."

"That saves us the trouble of us trying to find them."

"It does and this clearing is better to fight in than in the trees."

"How long do we have before they get here?"

"Maybe another ten or fifteen minutes, they're starting to move faster."

"Can you tell how many there are?"

"A little under twenty"

"Then let's see who takes out more of these things" Mira said as she activated her Satan Soul

"You're on" Natsu said, there's nothing he loves more than a good competition, especially when came to taking out anything that's incredibly dangerous beasts that can potentially kill him.

After only a few more minutes the first of the beast showed up. It has the appearance of a bipedal wolf, standing at just shy of six feet tall. It has black and white fur which appeared to be clumping together and pure black eyes. The creature growl at the two mages as it makes eye contact, revealing a sharp set of teeth. It slightly raises it's slightly elongated arms to reveal the massive claws on its paws. From seeing what those claws are capable of, the duo knew to keep their distance.

The beast was the first one to act by charging the two on. It cocks back one of its arms back to swipe at the two mages. Natsu ducks under the swipe and punches the beast in its midsection, sending flying towards a tree. The beast is quick to get back to its feet before charging to two once again.

" **Demon Blast"** Mira shouts as she launches a ball of dark energy towards the charging beast, causing a small explosion. When the smoke cleared, only the feet of the beast remained. "Looks like I get the first kill".

"You still haven't won yet" Natsu said, he is surprised by tough the beast hide was; though it's nothing that he can't handle. "Looks like I'll have to take a little more seriously" he finishes while a grin spreads across his face.

"Finally, I've been looking forward to seeing what your magic can do in fight since we got here."

Not long after the first beast was killed, three more showed up, all of which immediately charged the two mages.

Natsu smirk as he saw the three charging and engulfed his right hand in his fire. **"Fire Fist"** He shouts as he thrust his fist forward which launched a large pillar of flames from his fist towards the charging beasts, easily engulfing all three in that one attack. As the flames die down, not a single trace of the beast could be found and the destruction that was left in the aftermath of the attack was astonishing, at least to Mira it was. That one attack left a deep trench in the ground that was pitch black from the heat with smoldering embers littering the ground. Not only the ground was affected, the trees that were behind the beasts were completely destroyed as well as a good portion of the tree line either being reduced to ash or completely charred. "Looks like that's three for me" Natsu said with a teasing grin

Mira, who is still in shock from that one attack, now understood why Natsu didn't use against her or Erza when they fought him. When he said he didn't the fight to end too quickly, she just assumed he was being cocky about his power. But now she saw knows that if he had used any offensive spells, the fights would have been over before they could start. "How about we add a rule to this game of ours. No long ranged attacks."

"Good idea, that way you'll at least have a chance of winning" Natsu said with a shit eating grin.

"Keep talking, but from what I saw your punches won't put them down for good." Mira said with a teasing grin of her own.

"I still have plenty of other fire spells. And do you really think your claws will do any better?"

"Better than your fist will."

"Fair point, but have you ever heard of a dragon that didn't have claws?"

"No"

Before answering, Natsu held up both of his hands. Mira was starting to question where he was going with this until she saw his nails grow a couple inches and become pointed where they all looked razor sharp. "Neither have I."

One by one for of the beast started arriving, this time in greater numbers. As the duo looked at the beasts, that were starting to surround him, neither could hide the look of excitement that came across their faces from the prospect of how fun this is going to be.

The first beasts to get in range made an attempt to swipe at Mira, she easily dodged the attack. **"Evil Spark"** she yells as she punches one of the beasts in its stomach, paralyzing it instantly. While the beast is recovering from the shock, Mira coats one of her claws in her dark magic and brings it down on the beast's skull, killing it instantly.

Over with Natsu, he is quickly dodging a pair of beast that is attacking him with quite a bit of ease. Ducking under the swing of one of the beast, Natsu thrust one of his clawed hands into the beast chest and rips out heart. He quickly turns to the other beast, which is now swinging its claws at the dragon slayer, he steps to the side and dodges then swipes his own claw at the beast throat, cutting it wide open, killing the beast almost instantly.

Another four of the beast appear from the trees and rush towards Mira and the same time as another two charge Natsu. Mira could only smirk at the approaching beasts. **"Evil Explosion"** Mira yells when the four are only a few feet from her. The impact from when the attack made contact with one of the beasts caused a small explosion and kicked up a small dust cloud. When the dust cloud cleared, three of the four beasts were dead with the last one being severely wounded. Mira quickly slammed her foot onto the dying beast skull, crushing it with that single blow and putting it out of its misery.

"Doesn't that count as a long range attack?" Natsu ask as he kills one of the beasts attacking him by crushing its skull with his hand.

"Nope, it only counts as one if you kill them at a distance and not when they're right in front of you." Mira said

"Well if that's the case" **"Incinerate"** Natsu says as he throws a ball of fire at the beast in front of him which completely reduced it to nothing but ash almost immediately upon contact. "Next time, let's come up better rules before a fight."

"Fine, it'll be more to beat you on an even playing field" Mira says as she and Natsu stare down the last six of the beast that have them surrounded

"Hey Mira, what do you say to bringing this game to an end?"

"Sure, these things aren't putting up as much of a fight as I wanted. What do you have in mind?"

"Simple each of us gets one attack of our choosing to take out half of these beasts down. Should be three easy kills for the both us, given how easily we went through them." Natsu said with a smirk on his face.

"Fine" Mira said, agreeing to what Natsu said without thinking about precisely how many beasts both her and Natsu had killed. **"Soul Extinctor"** she yells as she launches massive blast of dark energy towards her half of the beasts, killing them instantly and destroying a small portion of the forest.

"Don't you think that was a little much?" Natsu said teasingly.

"A bit, but you know what they say, "Over kill is seriously underrated." Besides, I don't to hear that from you after seeing that **Fire Fist** attack." Mira said in her own teasing tone.

"Fair enough, guess it's my turn now. You may want to fly pretty high up by the way."

"Why?"

"You'll find out, but trust me you don't want to be near here when you do." Natsu said.

Deciding it would be best to take Natsu's warning seriously, Mira flies away from the clearing, hopefully out range of whatever attack the slayer plans on using but close enough to see what will happen next.

As Mira is moving to get to a safe distance, the beasts, who have grown tired of waiting, charge Natsu, each of them eager to tear him to shreds. Natsu could only smirk at his charging attackers as his fist is engulfed in purple flames. The young slayer had the perfect move to end this fight. **"Fire Devil's Cataclysmic Inferno"** he shouts as he punches the ground beneath him. Cracks quickly spread from where he struck the ground past the outskirts of the clearing that he was in as an ominous purple light could be seen from within the cracks. Before Mira or the beasts could process what Natsu's attack did, a massive pillar of purple flames engulfs the entirety of the clearing as well as its inhabitants. Mira, who was on the outskirts of the clearing, had to fly further away to avoid getting harmed by the attack.

When the flames died down a few seconds later, Mira could only stare in shock. The ground had been cratered, completely charred and the cracks from the initial punch had widened quite a bit. The trees surround the clearing had completely evaporated, extending how wide the clearing was by a few yards. Even the foliage that wasn't hit by the attack had burned away. In the center of the clearing is Natsu who is completely unharmed and had a proud grin plastered across his face, it seems as if he's proud of what he has done. There were no remains of the beast that were charging, Mira doubted if there even ashes left of them.

After overcoming her shock, Mira returns to what was left of the clearing. "What the hell was that attack?"

"Just some fire spell I picked up from one of my teachers, it's good for getting rid of groups of enemies all at once. It's also useful for when you want a change of scenery." Natsu finishes of jokingly as he takes in the scenery.

"A change in scenery? You completely destroyed this clearing" Mira said in shock. "Don't you think that was going a little over board?"

"Like you said "Overkill is seriously underrated". And you what the best part is?"

"What?"

"I won the game" He said with a cheeky grin.

"What?! How?!" Mira screamed.

"Simple, you killed nine of the beast and I killed ten. Weren't you counting?"

Mira slightly blushed in embarrassment that she forgot to keep track of who was winning throughout the fight. Then she realized why Natsu suggested that they both take out half of the last six. He must have been keeping track the whole time, and suggesting splitting them up at the end would have guaranteed his win.

"You just realized it, didn't you" Natsu stated more than asked with a shit eating grin on his face.

"That's cheating!"

"No it isn't. I was keeping track of how many kills we both had and made a plan to win. That's just strategy. Not my fault you weren't paying attention to many beast you took out."

Mira is very irritated, not just at Natsu for using a cheap trick like that; but at herself as well for not only not paying attention but also not coming up with a plan like that herself which she normally would have. "Fine, I'll admit you won. Let's go tell the mayor the beasts are gone so we can finish this job."

The mages made their way back to the village to deliver the news to the mayor. To say he was thankful would be an understatement. He practically threw the reward money at them. He was happy that trade can resume for the village and the families of the hunters could now find closure. He was also thankful for Natsu for disposing of the hunter's bodies the way he had. No doubt seeing the gruesome remains of the hunters would surely scar the families and the rest of villagers for years to come. The young mages said they're farewells and made their way to the train station. Of course, Natsu was pleading the entire time to just walk back to Magnolia as he is yet again being dragged against his will towards the mechanized demon. Mira of course didn't care and just continued to drag the dragon slayer to his doom, much to her own joy.

A few minutes into the train ride Mira was staring at Natsu, who was a sickening shade of green and was clearly not enjoying the ride, and decided to show him some pity. "Natsu, sit next to me."

"W…why?"

"Just do it."

Natsu, not having the energy to argue or question what he is being told to do, moves over next to Mira. When he is sitting next to her, Mira moves him so that he is laying across the seat with his head resting in her lap. "There, is that better?"

"Yeah, thanks." Natsu said as he started to fall asleep.

"Don't mention it" Mira said as she started running her fingers through his hair. A couple minutes later Natsu had fallen asleep, no longer looking nearly as sick as he was. Mira couldn't help but chuckle, for someone as strong as the pinkette to have such a lame weakness is funny to say the least. 'I have to admit, he is kind of cute when he's asleep.'

 **Time Skip: 3 Hours**

The duo made it back to Magnolia as the sun was starting to set. When the train came to a stop, Natsu was about to dive out the window again when Mira grabbed him by his shirt, stopping him mid jump which had him crashing to the floor. She had forced him to leave like a normal person, which he didn't protest since he can move again. They made their way to the guild let the master know how the job went. After which they parted ways, Mira went home to spend the evening with her siblings and Natsu made his way to the forest to find a place to stay. As much as he liked the infirmary, he felt much more comfortable sleeping out in nature.

 **And there you have it the, the end of the newest chapter. Holy shit I didn't think it would take this long to get it out but this is a busy time of the year for me with work and I've had very little energy to write. Still, sorry for making everyone wait a month, the next chapter will hopefully be out by Christmas or a day or two later at most. I want to thank everyone that read, favorited, followed, and commented on this story so for. As of the moment I'm writing this there are: 2,131 views, 21 reviews, 91 favs, and 123 follows and that blows my mind and extremely thankful for it. Some of the people following are people that I'm actually a big fan of which is crazy for me.**

 **Now onto some news, nothing too big though. For starters, after Christmas I'll try to update this story every two weeks-ish, hopefully.**

 **The only other news I have is concerning the harem so if you're not interested just skip this part, I understand. At the moment current harem consist of: Mira, Ultear, Sayla, OC (Water Dragon Slayer), Cana, Mavis, Erza, Kagura, and Yukino. There is one spot left then that's it, no more will be added. Thanks to everyone that left a review voting for who they wanted and thanks to Lord Rikudo who suggested Mavis and helped me think of how to get her and Natsu to start interacting with each other. If you're wondering why I chose each of the girls then it depend on two things, the first is your reviews. If I see multiple people asking for the same person, then I'll consider that character. The second, which is the deciding factor, is what the reason for each girl to fall for Natsu is and what reason does Natsu have for falling for each of them. I'm not going down the route of each girl join the harem just for the sake of having them be a part of it. I want to slowly develop the feeling for everyone involved. Now for the last spot available, from the looks of it Hisui is in the lead by quite a bit, but I did see some suggestions I like such as: Lisanna, Bisca, and Dimaria. So keep voting and I'll reveal who get the last spot in the next AN. Also I want to suggest an OC that I've been thinking about lately. The OC is heavily inspired by Velvet Crowe from Tales of Berseria and will be a part of the story no matter what but her role will change depending on what all of you want.**

 **Now onto the reviews**

 **Acnologia: Don't worry, I won't add any more girls after that last spot is filled. Also as for what you want for Wendy's relationship with Natsu, you're going to like what I have planned since I'm a big fan of those two having a sibling like relationship.**

 **Greekfan FT: If it wasn't obvious, Natsu's power level IS OVER 9000. I'm not sorry, you asked for it. In terms of power, even though Natsu is much stronger he isn't nearly as strong as Gildarts or Makarov yet. They both have decade of training and experience that Natsu simply does not have and I feel like it would be a cop out if I made him stronger than the those two at this time. So far almost none of the characters are as strong as they are in canon because they are still kids and need time to grow. Both Mira and Erza haven't been promoted to S Class because they're not at the level yet and Natsu is easily at that level currently. Don't ask how strong Natsu is in comparison to Laxus because I'm still trying to figure out how I want to handle that. Also nice predictions, you even got a couple things right if only a part of it, but you should keep guessing and think a little bigger. I have very big plans for the future.**

 **Pmwms94: Glad that you noticed the HXH influence, Killua is a huge influence on how Natsu will act from time to time as well as the HXH series greatly influencing this fic.**

 **XFIRE GECKOSX: Thanks my potentially living mortal friend, sorry I couldn't get this out sooner.**

 **Carmelo Hernandez: Basically the TL;DR of Greekfan FT's question is Natsu is currently at S Class level and he'll get much stronger as this fic progresses. If you want me to explain more, just ask , I'll happily answer whatever question you have.**

 **And that's it, have a question leave a review and I'll respond in the next AN or PM me and I'll answer your question either that day or in a day or two. Hopefully this chapter met expectations, and I promise you won't have to wait so long for the next chapter.**

 **Till next time**

 **Mreh**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: A Line Drawn**

 **Disclaimer: At this point it should be obvious that I don't own Fairy Tail**

"Please! Someone help!" a young sounding voice screams out in fear. The voice belonged to a young girl with short blue hair and brown eyes. She's wearing a white button up shirt with a red collar, blue shorts, and brown shoes. Currently is being chased by three Forest Vulcans.

"Come here tiny human" one of the Vulcans yells out.

The young girl couldn't keep running away forever, these Vulcans have been chasing her for over half an hour and she is quickly losing what little strength she has. The poor girl was only able to run for a few more minutes before tripping over a branch. Seeing this, the Vulcans start to slow down as they approach her. "No more run tiny human" one of the vulcans said with a sinister grin on its face.

Seeing the vulcans approach her, the young girl starts to back away, hoping to buy herself a few more seconds. What she would do with those seconds, she didn't know but anything is better than what these vulcans had planned for her. "Please no" she says with tears starting to build up in the corners of her eyes. Feeling a tree against her back, she realizes there is nothing left for her to do. The poor girl closes her eyes and crosses her arms over head, hoping something, anything will happen for her to get out of this situation.

She sat there on the ground, with her back against a tree, hearing the vulcans laughing to themselves as they made their way towards her. As she hears the vulcans closing in, the temperature in the area skyrocketed before returning to normal only a second later. She couldn't hear the vulcans, or anything for that matter. The area around her became eerily quiet. As much as the young girl wanted to open her eyes to see what is happening she couldn't, she is still far too scared.

"Hey, you're safe now, are you ok?" she hears someone ask. The girl hesitantly opens her eyes and sees a boy with pink hair kneeling in front of her. No signs of the vulcans could be found. There was a scorched trench where she knew they were at.

"Did… did you get rid of those vulcans?" she asks.

"Yes, are you ok? Did those vulcans hurt you?" The ask again, concerned for the young girl's well being

"Thank you!" the young girl shouts as she wraps her arms around him in a hug with tears streaming down her face.

The boy, though he was slightly shocked, wrapped his arms around her and just let her cry. After a few minutes, girl stops crying and let's go of the boy that saved her. "Feel better?" he asks softly.

"Yes, thank you for saving me" she says while wiping away some of her tears.

"It's ok, you don't have to thank me. I was just doing what I was taught to do. What's your name?"

"It's Wendy, Wendy Marvell"

"It's good to meet you Wendy, I'm Natsu. You know it's not safe for someone as young as you to be out in the middle of the forest by yourself, what are you doing out here?"

At hearing his question, Wendy was reminded of the event that led to her being by herself and couldn't stop the tears that started to build up. "I… I am trying to find my mother, she disappeared three months ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that. So you've been on your own looking for her this whole time?"

"I was for a while then I met this boy and traveled with for a little bit. He left me at a guild and went to do something important. I joined the guild but I can't stay there anymore."

"Why? Did you not like it there, were they mean to you or something like that?"

"No not at all. Everyone there was been nothing but nice to me."

"Then why leave? Wouldn't they miss you?"

"No, not anymore."

"Why, did something happen?"

"Yes, everyone that was part of the guild was an illusion created by the master so that I wouldn't be lonely. But he couldn't keep the illusion up anymore and passed away a few days ago." Wendy said as she started crying. Natsu wrapped his arms around her and brought her in for a big hug. He couldn't help feeling sorry for the young girl because everything she has been through.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through that. How long ago did they all disappear?"

"A week."

"So, what have you been doing since then?"

"I went back to looking for my mother. But when I asked people in a town that I was in a few days ago, everyone thought I was lying about her."

"Why wouldn't they believe you?"

"Well, never mind, you won't believe me either."

"Hey, you don't know that. Why don't you tell, maybe I can help you find her."

"They thought I was lying because… because I my mother is a dragon."

"Oh; so you were raised by a dragon too."

Wendy's eyes shot open when she heard what Natsu said. She couldn't believe it, not only did he believe her but he was also raised by a dragon too. "You were also raised by a dragon? You're a dragon slayer like me."

"Sure am, I was raised by Igneel, the Fire Dragon King" Natsu said with a big grin on his face as he engulfed his hand in his dragon slayer flames. "Who were you raised by?"

"Grandeeney, the Sky Dragon." Wendy said as she brought up some wind that is circling her hand.

"Grandeeney? I've heard of her. From what I hear, she's great at healing."

"She is, that is her specialty. How did you hear about her? Do you know where she is?" Wendy asked. She couldn't believe her luck; not only has she met another dragon slayer but one that also has heard of her mother.

"I heard about her from some of my dad's friends, they all said she was a great healer and I think my dad was scared of her or something"

"Why would he be scared of her, she's very kind and gentle."

"From what I've heard she didn't like how Igneel was training me and wasn't shy about getting her point across. Apparently she was even willing to beat her point into his thick skull if she had to."

"Wow, what was your training like if Grandeeney didn't like it?"

"That's… not important right now."

"OK" Wendy said, not really understanding. "So, do you know where my mother is?"

"Sorry, but I don't. I don't even know where Igneel is."

"Oh, did he disappear too?"

"Yeah, one day he was there and the next he was gone. Weirdly enough he also disappeared three months ago, on July 7th"

"Wait he disappeared on July 7th. That's the same day Grandeeney disappeared."

"That's… weird, maybe there was a reason they disappeared."

"Do you really think so?" Wendy asked, hoping that mother had to leave for a reason and didn't just abandon her.

"Yeah, there has to be, it wouldn't make sense for them to just disappear for no reason."

Wendy couldn't help but smile at that in hope. What started out as one of the scariest days in her short life turned into one of the most exciting and hopeful ones. "Do you think I'll see her again someday?"

"Sure you will" Natsu, with his voice filled with confidence. "Anyways, what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know, I'll probably keep looking for Grandeeney. I don't have any other plans and I really don't know what else I can do."

"I have an idea, why don't you come with me to my guild, Fairy Tail, and join it. It'll give you something to do and we can help each other find our dragons."

"Really, that sounds great. But would they really let me join?"

"Of course they would, they let me in after all." Natsu said with a chuckle before looking towards the sun to see what time of the day it is. Seeing that the sun is about set, the two would have to camp out for the night. Natsu didn't mind walking through the night but Wendy was another case. He could tell that after all the running she had to do really did take its toll on her. "We'll head there first thing in the morning, it's only a half a day's walk from here." He said before looking for wood to use for a camp fire.

After Natsu set up a fire for them and caught couple fish from a nearby stream, the sat by the fire and talked for quite some time. Wendy learned a little more about Natsu's training and that he is on his way back to the guild from a job where he had to eliminate a group of wyverns. Natsu learned that Wendy, despite being raised by a dragon, didn't know how to fight. When he asked her why, Wendy said that her mother focused more on healing spells and never got around to any offensive ones. Though surprising, it did explain why Wendy ran from the vulcans instead of taking care of them right away. Natsu offered to teach her how to fight when they got back to guild which Wendy quickly agreed, excited that she can learn more about her magic.

The two eventually fell asleep by the camp fire. When morning came the two dragon slayers made their way to Fairy Tail. Throughout their trip Natsu would tell Wendy about the things he has done since joining the guild a month ago. With every story Wendy became more excited, not only because of all the crazy things that Natsu has done but in anticipation for when she could do a few of those things herself.

It was early in the afternoon when the duo arrived in Magnolia. As they were making their way through the town Natsu couldn't help but chuckle at the younger dragon slayers actions. As they were making walking through town Wendy just had to take in all the sights. There were even a few times that she had trouble keeping up with the pinkette. Natsu wondered if gramps felt the same way when the two did the same thing when he first came to Magnolia. At least he could understand why the old man couldn't stop chuckling to himself through their trip.

"So, are you ready to meet your new family?" Natsu ask Wendy as they finally reach the guild.

Wendy for her part could only stare in awe as her eyes fell on the guild hall. "I don't know. What if they won't let me join or they don't like me." She said, feeling more nervous than anything else about joining a new guild so soon after losing her old one.

"Hey, I promised that everyone was going to like you, didn't I. Besides, there's no way the master won't let you join the guild."

"I know you promised, but what if they still don't like me?"

"Then I'll just have to kick their asses. Come on let's go in so everyone can meet you." Natsu said reassuringly. He approaches the door and opens it his usual way, by kicking it open. The older dragon slayer has kicked the poor door open enough times to leave a perfect indention of his foot in it. When the doors were kicked open, everyone turned to look at the usual culprit.

"Damnit Natsu, how many times do I have to tell you to open the doors like a normal person?!" Makarov yelled from the bar.

"Come on gramps, you know it's more fun my way" Natsu said as he started to make his way towards the bar.

"Natsu, fight me!" Gray yelled as he dashed towards the Dragon Slayer.

"Not now Gray, I got something to take care of with Gramps." Natsu said as he punched the Ice Make Mage in the face, knocking him out instantly while also launching him across the guild.

"You really need to stop punching him in the head; he's bound to get brain damage if you keep it up" Makarov said with a sigh, knowing that this was going to continue until something serious finally happens.

"I will, when he either stops trying to fight me or pissing me off."

"So what's this business that you have with me?"

"Simple, I found someone that want's to join the guild."

"Really? That's great. So where is this new member of our family?"

"What are you talking about? She's right h… wait a minute, where'd she go? She was right next to me." Natsu said while looking side to side.

"Would you be referring to the young girl that's trying to hide behind you by chance?" Makarov said while tilting his head to the side to catch a glimpse of the young girl that's trying to hide herself behind the dragon slayer.

"What?" Natsu said as he turned his upper body to see Wendy trying to hide herself from the guild. "Hey Wendy, its ok. There's no reason to be scared of anyone here." He said, trying to reassure the young slayer.

Deciding to trust him, Wendy steps out from behind Natsu. "Hello, it's good to meet you. My name is Wendy Marvell; I would like to join your guild please."

"Then welcome to Fairy Tail my dear, just tell me where you want your guild mark and what color you want it in." Makarov said with a huge smile on face as he made his way to get the guild stamp.

"Wait that's it? I'm in just like that?"

"Of course, Fairy Tail would never turn away anyone that wishes to join. Now tell me where you want your guild mark."

"Thank you, I want it on my right shoulder in blue please."

And with that Wendy officially became part of the guild and every member is doing what they do best, throw a massive party.

While the party is going on, Natsu shows Wendy around the guild and introduces her to everyone; much like what Cana did for him when he joined. After showing her around the guild he brings her to the table full of the younger members. And much to Wendy's joy, everyone was as friendly as Natsu said. Granted they are a bit weirder than the older slayer said, but nice none the less.

"Hey Wendy, what kind of magic do you use?" Lisanna asked since, weirdly enough, no one asked her since she came to the guild. This question seemed to gather the attention of everyone one in the guild.

"We… well; I use **Sky Dragon Slayer** magic." Wendy said shyly, not liking being the center of attention, while encasing her hand in some wind. To say everyone is shocked would have been justifiable. After seeing how strong Natsu is, they are all curious if she's another power house amongst the younger generation of the guild.

"Wait, you're a dragon slayer too?" this time Cana asked. "Does that mean you're freakishly strong like Natsu?"

"No, not at all. My magic is more for healing and I don't know any of the fighting spells yet. Or how to fight for that matter." Wendy said, embarrassed that she knows so little about her magic

While most of the guild is relieved that they don't have to worry about another destructive member from the younger generation, they are also confused. Aren't all dragon slayers supposed to know how to fight? Based off of what they've seen from Natsu everyone just assumed that fighting was basic knowledge. Then again, maybe the dragon that trained her is more peaceful than the one that trained that trained Natsu and didn't care for conflict enough to teach the younger slayer.

"Wait, you don't know how to fight at all?" Mira asked, before turning to Natsu. "Is it common for dragon slayers to not know how to fight at Wendy's age?" It's a fair question, maybe dragons wait until their slayers are just a little bit older before teaching them how to use their very destructive magic's.

"Not really, every slayer I know knew how to fight by the time we were about her age." Natsu said which resulted in Wendy lowering her head in slight shame. "But that doesn't matter since I'll be taking her under my wing and train her myself" Natsu said with a big smile across his face as he wrapped an arm around Wendy's shoulder and gave everyone a thumbs up.

That's just what everyone wanted, another unstoppable little monster running around the guild and causing havoc. It seems like their future became even more terrifying at the prospect.

"Please tell me that you're not going to put her through the same training that you went through." Erza asked, now fearing for the young girl's safety. A sentiment shared by everyone in the guild.

"Of course not, what do you think I am, crazy?" Natsu said as he looked at the faces of everyone in the guild and realizes that's exactly what they're thinking. "You know what, don't answer that."

"Anyways, are you sure that you want to be trained by Natsu, Wendy? I believe that he is capable of helping you expand your magic, but it might be a little too much for you right now." Erza asked. She does by no means doubt either of the slayer capabilities, but Wendy has admitted that she doesn't know how to fight which is something that Natsu is an expert in. And the only healing spells that Natsu knows are ones that should only be used as a last resort. In her mind, she isn't sure whether Natsu is the best person to train the younger dragon slayer or not.

"Of course, I want to learn as much as about my magic as possible. Since Grandeeney disappeared, Natsu is the only dragon slayer I've met and with as much as he knows about our magic he's the only person that can teach me. I can't imagine how much I'll learn from him."

"Well, if that's what you want and you're committed to learning more, than I see nothing wrong with it." Erza said, now feeling more relieved.

"Thanks for giving us your permission, we really needed it." Natsu said sarcastically, earning him a glare from Erza and a snicker from Mira. "Don't worry; I'm not going to put Wendy through the same training I went through. At least I won't until she's ready to handle it."

The party continued until it was starting to get dark. As people started to either leave or pass out on the floor or tables, as is tradition in Fairy Tail, Wendy let out a yawn. The kids around her took notice.

"Oh right, we forgot that you need a place. I'm pretty sure there's a room available at Fairy Hills." Cana said. She isn't the only one that forgot about Wendy's living situation. Then again, it wouldn't be the first time this has happened.

"You can also stay in the infirmary if you want to. The beds are actually pretty comfortable and Gramps won't have a problem with it." Natsu said.

"Um Natsu, would… would it be ok… if I stay with you." Wendy said shyly.

"Sure, if you want to, but why do you want to stay with me?"

"I… Just feel more comfortable with you around." Wendy said, now looking slightly embarrassed.

"If that's the case then I really can't say no. Not that I would anyways." Natsu said while slightly chuckling and rubbing the back of his head.

"Thank you" Wendy said as she hugged the older dragon slayer. Natsu couldn't resist the urge to chuckle at the young girl as he returned her hug. Everyone watched with warm smiles on their faces, finding the moment rather cute.

"As much as I don't want to ruin the moment, and I really don't want to, isn't your house a little small for two people?" Mira asked Natsu. It's a fair question, especially since she knew how big it is. Instead of buying or renting a house in town, Natsu decided to build his own out in the forest outside of Magnolia. Since he never been inside a house before deciding to build one, having always either lived outside or in caves, Mira insisted that Natsu come over to her house to get a better idea of everything that he would have to either make or buy. Thanks to that visit, Natsu had changed his plans from simply putting up four walls and a roof, along with buying a bed, to building a house that's suitable for people to live in. luckily he was able to afford the supplies after only a couple weeks of taking quest.

"Then I'll just build another bedroom when I get enough time for it. Till then Wendy can just sleep in my room."

"Then where are you going to sleep?" Erza asked, curious as to what his answer would be.

"The couch" was Natsu's simple reply

"Ah, look at that. The big bad dragon slayer is giving up his bed for a little girl. You're just a big softie, aren't you?" Cana teased, though she did find it sweet that he would give up his bed for the young girl.

"Yep, it's hidden under my awesome exterior" Natsu shot back in a joking manner.

"I can sleep on the couch instead Natsu; it's not a big deal." Wendy chimed in, not wanting to be a burden.

"Don't worry about it Wendy, my couch is actually pretty comfortable. I've probably fallen asleep on it as much as I have in my bed." Natsu said. Deciding to just go along with it Wendy just agreed and the two said their goodbyes to their guild mates and left.

After a half hour walk the two dragon slayers arrived at Natsu's house. It's a small house that seems cozy. It has a single floor to it and has a single bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living room. Out back is small pond which Natsu explained that he likes to just sit at and fish when he wants to relax.

As they made their way inside Wendy saw how cozy the house is. Just from taking one look at the house she could see why Mira asked if Natsu's house was big enough for the two of them. It seemed as though it was just barely big enough for one person to live in comfortably. Then again the older dragon slayer did build it for that purpose.

"Are you sure it's okay for me to stay with?" Wendy asked, wanting to make sure that she isn't being a burden.

"Like I said at the guild, of course it is." Natsu said trying to reassure her. "Come on, let's go to sleep, I'm pretty tired."

"Thank you again, for everything." Wendy said quietly as she made her way to Natsu's room. "Good night"

"Good night and don't worry about it."

 **Time Skip: Next morning**

The two dragon slayers woke up pretty early in the morning, a habit Natsu wanted Wendy to get into when they start her training. After eating a quick breakfast that Natsu made, the two made their way to the guild. When they arrived they saw most of the kids sitting at their usual table as well as most of the people who passed out at the guild either just waking up or trying to get over their hangovers.

"Ah it's good to see you two this morning. Tell me Wendy, how do you like our guild so far?" Makarov asked as he approached the two dragon slayers.

"It's great, everyone has been very nice and friendly to me." Wendy answered with a massive smile.

"That's good to hear; Natsu can you come with me to my office for a moment?"

"Sure, but what's it about?" Natsu asked curiously, the only time he gets called to into the master's office is when he destroys something while on a job. "I'm not in trouble or something, am I?" he asked, ready to run like hell should the need arise.

"No it's nothing like that; a very serious situation has come up and I would like to discuss it with you in private." Makarov finished with a more serious expression on his face. Natsu knew right away that this must be important since the old man never looked this serious even when the dragon slayer was in trouble for something.

"Sure, Wendy, why don't you go hang out with every while I go talk to Gramps."

"Ok" Wendy said as she left to spend time with her new friends.

The two mages made their way to Makarov's office. After the two entered the office, the old man locked the door and put up a sound proof barrier to give them some privacy.

"Wow, this must be serious." Natsu said as he looked at Makarov, who is now sitting behind his desk.

"Well if my time as master has taught me anything, it's that most of my brats can resist the urge to ease drop when something like this comes."

"Ok, so what's this situation you wanted to talk about?"

"Before we get to that there is something that I need to ask you."

"Ok, what do you need to know?"

"I heard that you are going to be training Wendy, is that correct?"

"Yes, she wants to learn more about her magic and expand on it. So what's this about, I know you heard about it last night."

"I guess what I'm trying to ask is, are you going to train her to the same extent that you were?"

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is; are you going to teach Wendy how to kill?" Makarov asked sternly. He has no problem with Natsu training Wendy. He would never discourage his children from training or from spending time with each other. But there are some things he won't allow, and if Natsu is planning to teach Wendy how to take a life, then he'll have no choice but to intervene.

Natsu for his part isn't surprised by this question. In fact since he joined the old guild he learned early on that master doesn't agree with his stance on killing. It became obvious when the two had a long talk on the subject one night after everyone had left. While Makarov wasn't able to change the dragon slayer's mind, they were at least able to understand each other's stance on the matter.

"If that's what you wanted to know then why didn't you just ask that from the start?" The dragon slayer said. "Don't worry I'm not going to train her to kill."

"That's good to hear, but I must why? Didn't you tell me that killing is part of both of your magics?" Makarov asked. Words couldn't accurately describe how relieved he is at this moment. By no means did he have any doubt in the slayer before him, but this is a time where he needed the confirmation.

"It's simple, whether Wendy wants to learn how to kill or not is entirely her decision. I can't and won't make that decision for her. Regardless of which she chooses; I'll support her decision either way and continue to teach her." Natsu said, sounding more mature than someone his age should.

Makarov is astounded by how mature Natsu sound at this moment. It's a rare and welcome sight for the old man to see someone so young act more mature than some adults he has met over the years. However; there was something that Natsu said that caught his attention. "That's good to hear, but I'm curious. Did Igneel give you the same choice that you're giving Wendy?"

"Yes, why?"

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you make the decision to learn how to kill?"

"Sorry Gramps, but that's a story for another time." Natsu said with a chuckle. Out of all the things that Gramps could have asked, that was one thing he wasn't expecting to hear.

Makarov decided to leave that question for a later time; he has already learned what he needed to and there is still the situation that needed to be taken care of. "Then we can pick this up at a later time. For now we need to get back to the business at hand. I have a very serious mission that was handed to me by the council and it needs to be taken care as soon as possible."

"Ok, so what's the mission?"

"The mission is apprehending a rogue dark mage known as Serov the Executioner."

"A rogue dark mage?" Natsu ask, thinking that it sounded a little redundant.

"Yes, apparently he was kicked out of his former dark guild for his violent tendencies and attracting too much attention; not only to himself but to his former guild as well. His former guild mates have already been apprehended and now the council is after him."

"I think I already know the answer, but why is he known as 'The Executioner'."

"That's because of his apparent love of holding public executions. He's become known for performing mass executions in public. Civilians, public servants, politicians, rune knights, mages both legal and dark; no one is safe from him."

"If he's so dangerous, then how come he hasn't been taken care of sooner?"

"He's only started making a name for himself over the past month. From what we have learned from his former guild mates, is that while he isn't too strong in comparison to the rest his guild. But what he lacks in strength, he makes up for in speed and precision."

"That could be a problem, do you know what type of magic he uses."

"I do. He uses both **Requip** , or more specifically **Requip: The Gunner** , and **Gun** Magic."

"Well, that might be a little troublesome, but nothing I can't handle. Do you have a lead where I can find him?"

"Yes, well, more like a very possible theory. A member of the council who specializes in **Archive** magic has looked at the Locations of his last few executions and determined that he will arrive in Roselake sometime today. It shouldn't take long for you to determine whether he is in fact in town or not."

"What makes this town so special? What if he goes to a different town?"

"The Council has already thought of that and has contacted various guilds and ordered them to send teams to other towns, should he arrive somewhere else."

"At least they have a back-up plan. So, is there anything else I need to know before I go?"

"Yes, the Council wants him captured alive."

"Wait a minute. Alive? You're sending me after someone who kills whoever he wants and expect me to capture him alive?" Natsu said, thinking that the old man is starting to become senile.

"I did and there is no room for argument on this." Makarov said sternly.

"Then why send me?"

"Don't get me wrong, I know we have plenty of mages that are more than capable of capturing Serov alive. But the reason I am sending you is because I'm not entirely confidant this job can be accomplished without innocent people being killed. Out of everyone currently in the guild you're the most capable of apprehending him without any civilians being killed. Not only that, but if, and god forbid, any innocent lives are lost, you are the least likely to be psychologically harmed by their deaths."

Natsu couldn't blame the old man for his reasoning, and the dragon slayer definitely couldn't turn down this job if innocent lives are on the line. However; he isn't happy about going through the trouble of having to spare this murderer. "Guess I don't have a choice, I'll do my best to not kill him, let me find someone to watch over Wendy and I'll go."

"Then I wish you good luck on this mission, and thank you."

"For what? I haven't completed the mission yet."

"For agreeing to capture Serov alive instead of killing him; I know you're not particularly happy about it. But believe me, it's for the best."

"Don't know if it's actually for the best, but I'll trust you on this one." Natsu said as the two made their way to leave the office. Natsu heading over to table where Wendy is at while Makarov makes his way to the bar.

"Hey Wendy, I'm going to have to leave for a little bit. A very important mission came up and I have to leave right away." Natsu said as he reached the table the younger dragon slayer was at. At the news that Natsu is leaving, Wendy stopped the game that she was playing with Cana and turned to the pinkette.

"You… you're leaving" fear already filling the young girl. Memories of the last few people she became close to disappearing suddenly flooding her mind.

"Yes, but don't worry I should be back before the end of day." Natsu said, try his best to reassure the young bluenette. "Hey Cana, would you mind looking after Wendy while I'm gone."

"Of course I don't mind, good luck on your mission."

"Thanks"

"Please be safe." Wendy said, hoping not lose another person she became close to.

"Don't worry Wendy; I'm way too awesome to lose to some dark mage." Natsu said, doing his best to comfort her. "Try not to get into too much trouble, that's my job."

"Ok, I'll try." Wendy said with a small smile on her face.

As Natsu turned to leave he is confronted by Erza. "Natsu, if you don't mind me asking what is this job you're going on?" she asks in her usual demanding tone.

"I'm going to catch a murderer." Natsu answered, having learned that sometimes it's better to humor the knight unless he wants to get a lecture from her. Not that he listens to those lectures, but he rather avoids them if he can.

"Catching a murderer, are you sure you want take such a dangerous job?"

"Don't have much choice, Gramps asked me to the job and it's important this bastard gets caught."

"Good point, would you like me to go with you to help? If you're going after a murderer it may be better to bring someone as back-up" Ordinarily, Erza would never ask for permission for anything she views as necessary. But this is different; she knows how stubborn Natsu can be. So much so that it's almost impossible to make him do anything that he doesn't want to.

"No I'm good. From what Gramps told me, it's nothing I can't handle."

"But you're going after a murderer; surely it would be better to bring someone."

"Erza has a point Natsu. It may prove beneficial to bring her along" Makarov said as he approached the arguing mages. After Natsu, the master believed that Erza was the next most qualified person to take the job. Not only because of her skill as a mage but because of his knowledge of her past. Thinking that out of everyone currently in the guild, she would be the least effect by the sight of someone being killed, after Natsu of course.

"Are you sure that'll be necessary Gramps?" Natsu ask.

"Necessary, maybe. Given the job, I would much rather play it safe. Plus Erza can be of great help in avoiding what may happen."

"Fine, if you think it's for the best. Come on Erza, I'll tell you more about the job on the way to the train station." Natsu finishes with a loud groan. Of course the realization that he would be forced to take a train would hit him hard.

"What's wrong?" Erza ask, not sure why Natsu would groan for seemingly no reason.

"My motion sickness"

"You have motion sickness?" Erza asks incredulously, having never heard that the pinkette had such a lame weakness.

"Don't remind me"

"I can help you with that. I know a spell that will temporarily heal your motion sickness." Wendy chimed in.

"THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU" Natsu shouted as he picked Wendy up and gave her the biggest hug he could. "Quick, use that spell we really need to go."

" **Troia"** Wendy said as a light blue light surrounded her hands and pushed them towards Natsu's chest. "That should take care of your motion sickness for a while."

"Thanks Wendy, you're the best. Come on Erza we got to go. I'll explain everything on the train." Natsu yelled as he grabbed Erza by the wrist and dragged her to the train station. A feat that the pinkette never thought he would do.

 **Scene Change: Roselake train station, two hours later**

After a short train ride, the two Fairy Tail mages arrived in Roselake. When they departed the train they were met by a Rune Knight.

"Are you two the mages from Fairy Tail?" the Rune knight asked.

"We are" Natsu answered

"Thank god, we need to go now, Serov showed up much sooner than anticipated and has started executing civilians in the town square."

"Shit, how many people has he killed so far?" Natsu asks while trying to contain his rage. The temperature around him started rising; however, no one noticed since their focus is stopping Serov as fast as possible.

"Three so far, but there is something else that we have recently learned of that is going to make this more difficult." The Rune Knight answered.

"And what would that be?" Erza asks

"Somewhere along the line, Serov has picked up a small group of followers. He's having them threaten to kill hostages to keep us from taking any kind counter measures."

"Do you know how many followers he has?" Erza ask, not liking how this mission has become more complicated.

"Only five, but as it stands, we can't get a clear view of the town square since every time one of my knights try to see what the situation is, they get shot at. Our knowledge of the situation is coming from the announcements that Serov is making himself."

"Why would he announce he's doing for everyone to hear?" Natsu asks

"We think he's doing it to inflate his own ego. Reports say that Serov loves to "be the center of 'attention' so his announcements do fall in line with that. We also believe that he his announcing everything to antagonize us since he knows we won't do anything that will endanger the hostages."

"At least we'll stay updated on the status of the hostages" Erza said, still not liking the situation. "We need a plan and fast. The more time we waste, the more likely we are to lose more hostages." She said while turning to her partner.

"You're right, and I think I have just the plan for it." The pinkette stated

"And what would that be?"

"Since it seems like Serov likes to put on a show, I'll walk into the square and keep him distracted. While I'm doing this, Erza you get into a position to take out his followers as quickly as possible." Natsu said before turning to the Rune Knight. "Make sure you and your men don't do anything stupid, we'll yell for you once we're done."

"What kind of plan is that? Just walking out into the line of fire of marksman who likes to execute people! What's to stop him from shooting you the second he sees you?!" the redhead screams at the dragon slayer.

"Absolutely nothing, that's why I'm counting on the fact that he likes to put on a show. Besides, worst case scenario, he shoots me, I take him down, you take out his followers, and I heal right after. All I have to do is hope he doesn't shoot me anywhere important." Natsu explains casually.

"You're forgetting that he could also shoot a hostage." Erza yells, immediately hating the plan that has way to many risks for her liking.

"Then I'll still take down Serov and just heal whoever he shoots. Again, I just have to hope he doesn't shoot anywhere important."

"Surely there must be a better plan."

"There probably is, but we're short on time, and I don't want to give him more time to kill someone."

Erza gritted her teeth, but couldn't think of a good counter argument or a better plan. Deciding to put her trust in her friend, she requips into her **Flight Armor**. "You're right about time, I still don't like this plan, but I don't see a better option at this moment. I'll try to find a good vantage spot to get the drop on his followers. You better stay safe."

"If I was going to do that, then I wouldn't walk into a square full of people that want to shoot me."

"Then you better not get hurt, otherwise I'll personally punish you when we get back to the guild."

"I have a feeling you won't be the only one that will." Natsu said as he watches Erza run off to find her vantage spot. As he turns to make his way to the square, he is confronted by the Rune Knight that had been escorting him.

"Sorry, but I cannot sit back and watch as a kid walks out to his death. I won't allow it." The knight yells. He knows that they're in a tough spot but he won't allow two children risk their lives while him and his men sit back and let it happen.

"Well, luckily for me, there's nothing you can do to stop me." Natsu said as he walks right past the knight. "I know I don't look like it, but I'm faster and stronger than I look. Trust me; I know what I'm doing."

After a minute of walking, Natsu arrived in the town square. Off to the right he could see the group of twelve hostages, five of which had the followers behind them with guns trained to back of their head. Not to farm from them Natsu caught a glimpse of a narrow alley. 'That'll be perfect for Erza; it'll give a clear view of what's happening. All she has to do is keep a low profile and wait.' Natsu thought before turning his attention to who he could only assume is Serov. Serov is tall, lanky man with slicked back black hair, and brown eyes, and outfit consist of his consist of a white long sleeve shirt, blue pants, and black shoes. Natsu also notices that right in front of Serov is a woman kneeling on the ground with Serov's pistol trained on her back.

"What's this, those pathetic rune knights become so desperate that they've sent some snot nosed brat to do their job." Serov said before he started laughing manically. "Do they seriously think that I wouldn't kill some stupid kid?"

"Actually, the one I talked to tried to stop me from coming here because he thought it would be too dangerous." Natsu said as he discreetly took a sniff of the area around him to try to figure out where Erza is.

Serov broke out into another laughing fit; he couldn't believe someone could be this dumb. "Man, you must be some special kind of stupid kid. You should've listened to that knight then. You might have lived a little longer, not that it matters now."

"Trust me; I'm not planning on dying today."

"You know what they say about the best laid plans, right?" Serov said while sinister smile made appeared on his face. This is his favorite type of person to kill, someone with more bravado than common sense. Just one look in the boy's onyx eyes and he could see that this kid is filled with confidence. The gunman just can't wait until that look is replaced with one of fear a mere moment before he puts a bullet in the kids head. Maybe he'll see how many times the kid can be shot before begging for death.

Taking another sniff of the air, Natsu could now tell that Erza is in position and thankfully she is in the alley closest to the hostages. Now all he has to do is take care of the homicidal idiot in front of him.

"I'm only going to give you one chance to give up now." Natsu said as he stares into Serov's eyes.

"Or what?" Serov asked, staring right back into the pinkette's eyes.

"I'll beat you within an inch of your life."

"Oh my GOD I fucking love that bravado of yours. Goddamn I'm going to miss you after I put a bullet between your eyes you cocky little shit."

"I take it that you aren't going to take me up on my offer." Natsu asked.

"How's this for an answer" Serov said before shooting the woman kneeling in front of him in the back

"NO" Natsu shouted, his anger on verge of exploding out of him

"No, Emily" one of the hostages yelled out with tears running down his face.

Serov kneeled down to the woman, who is slowly bleeding out on the ground, and grabs her by the hair to make her look at the pinkette. "Looky here, I want you to know that it is because of this pink haired little shit's cockiness that you're going to die." He said while never breaking eye contact with Natsu. "How does it feel knowing that someone you could have saved is now going to die because you wanted to play hero. She has couple minutes left before she bleeds out. Do you think she'll forgive you for your stupidity or use her last few breaths to curse your existence?" Serov said in a slow and sinister tone, never breaking eye contact with Natsu

"God dammit Gramps" Natsu mutters to himself, his hair shadowing his eyes. He was told to capture Serov alive, but right now there is nothing more that the young dragon slayer would like to do than to rip this man apart, limb by limp. "I take back what I said; I'm not going to give you a chance to surrender. I'm just going to take something important of yours."

"Still with the bravado, holy shit are you slow. Oh well it's not like you'll live long enough to regret it, or maybe you will. I don't know what I want to do with you yet, I just know it's going to be fun." Serov said, now pointing his gun at the pinkette.

Serov pulls the trigger, excited to hear the pain filled scream escape the kid, but nothing happens. He pulls the trigger again and still nothing happens. That's when his brain starts to catch up with what has happened. He looks down at his gun, trying to figure out what is wrong with it. It took a second but he realizes his pistol is missing, but that wasn't the only thing missing. Serov didn't only lose his pistol, but the hand that was holding the gun and the arm it was connected to. His arm has been ripped off just below the elbow. He looks at the stump and notices that it was already cauterized.

What happened, when did this happen, how did it happen, why did it take so long to process everything? These were the questions that filled his mind. Before he could find the answers, he felt a presence behind him. The presence is quite possibly the most terrifying thing that he has felt. Curiosity getting the better of him, Serov slowly turned to see what was there.

He saw Natsu standing behind him, holding his severed arm in his hand. But that wasn't the only thing that caught his attention. The pinkette's hands were engulfed in flames and his nails looked more like claws. He finally pieced together what happened, but he is stilled confused as to how it happened. "How?" he asks in a low voice, but everyone could hear it.

"Simple, you're too slow." Natsu answered, his voice sounding much colder than it did before.

At that statement, Serov looked Natsu in the eyes and was confused once again. He could have sworn that the kid's eyes were onyx. Now, they're golden with black sclera. He felt like the kid was staring straight into the depths of his soul.

"You should've taken me up on my offer." Natsu said as he tossed the arm in his hand off to the side.

"You… you little shit. I'll fucking kill you" Serov screams out as he requips another pistol. At this moment there is nothing he wants more than this kid dead. No, he didn't want this kid dead; he needed him to die for what he has done.

Before he could point his gun at the pinkette, Natsu was already in front of him holding the marksman's weapon and hand in his own hand.

"I said I'd take something important of yours. And what's more important to a marksman than his arm..." Natsu said with the same cold tone before squeezing the contents in his hand with more force than necessary. Both Serov's hand and gun crumbled like a piece of paper from the force. The bones in his hand snapped like they were nothing more than twigs. The now broken pistol was stabbing through his completely shattered hand. Serov couldn't hold back the pain filled scream that escaped him. "…Or his hand for that matter." Natsu finishes with the same coldness.

"You fucking bastard, I'll kill you I'll kill you I swear I'll fucking kill you!" Serov screams out.

"You're lucky that I was told to capture you alive." Natsu said as he grabbed Serov by his head and slams it into the pavement, knocking him out as well as slightly cratering the ground.

Natsu turns his attention to Serov's follower who, up till now, we're frozen in fear. "My job was to capture Serov alive and as you can see, I've already done that. However, nowhere was it mention that I need to capture any of you in the same condition." The seriousness in his voice easily scared the followers. "Either surrender now or I won't hesitate to slaughter each one of you." Natsu finishes, the air around him filled with so much killing intent and bloodlust that the followers could almost choke on it.

Each one of the followers felt fear that they have never felt before. Not a single one them able to look at the pinkette and think of him as a child. To them, he's more like a dangerous predator ready to kill its prey. They know that if this so called child was able to take out their leader with no effort then they have no chance in a fight. They could try using the hostages to give them some sort of edge, but if that fails it would just ensure their demise. Deciding that it would be better to be arrested than killed, each of the followers get on the ground and surrender.

"Good choice" Natsu said as the killing intent disappears and his eyes revert to their onyx color. He could see the fear in their eyes and knew they would give up. Turning his attention towards the hostages and he could see that all of them are now scared of him. He couldn't blame them for it though, it's not every day someone sees a kid rip a man's arm off with incredible ease. However, the one thing Natsu couldn't see was how Erza is reacting.

Erza is in complete shock by what has happened. She knew that there was a high chance that a hostage would be harmed. But that isn't what had her shocked. No, it was how Natsu had reacted that shocked her to her core. Out of all the things she's known him to be, vicious was not one of them until now. Prior to this she never imagined that the kind hearted boy could change so fast. The violent act causes some of her worst memories to resurface in her mind. There has only been one time when she has someone change so quick. Looking at Natsu, all she can think of… his him.

"Erza" Natsu shouts, breaking the redhead out of her trance. "Go get the Rune Knights, I'll watch over the hostages." She runs off to get the knight to take the criminals into custody.

Natsu makes his way over to the injured hostage, only to be beaten there by the hostage that yelled out when she was shot.

"Please, there has to be something you can do to save her?" the hostage pleaded.

"Don't worry, I can save her. If I remember correctly her name is Emily, right?" Natsu asked the now former hostage who nodded in response. "Alright Emily, I need you to listen ok. First off, you're not going to die so don't worry about that. I know a spell that will save you, but the catch is that it's going to hurt, a lot. But physically, you'll be as good as new." Natsu said as he looked Emily in the eyes, his voice sounding upset and apologetic.

"Please" is all she could say as she had tears were pooling in the corner of eyes.

"Alright" Natsu said as he took her hands into one of his own. "This is probably going to be the most painful thing you've ever felt so go ahead and squeeze my hand as much as you need to, it'll help. And I'm sorry for getting you shot." Natsu said as his free hand is engulfed in green and white flames **"Fire Dragons Rejuvenating Flame."** He says as he presses his hand against the exit wound on her front side

Emily screams out in pain, never expecting how much pain she would feel. Although it only lasted for few second in real time, for her it felt like hours. She passed out as soon as the flames had dissipated.

"Emily?!" the former hostage shouted "Is she ok? What happened?" he asks frantically.

"Don't worry she's fine, she just passed out from the pain, the downside of that spell but you can't argue with the results. When she wakes she'll be completely fine, sore, but fine." Natsu said, rubbing his now sore hand.

"Thank you so much" he said, no longer able to contain his tears.

"Don't thank me; it's my fault she got hurt in the first place." Natsu said solemnly. If he had taken a little more time, he might have been able to think of a better plan. Not that it matters now, it's just as he was taught. Make a plan and stick to it, for better or worse.

Erza came back to the square with the rune knights who proceeded to arrest Serov and his followers. The rune knights could believe that one kid was to take down Serov and his followers in such a short amount of time, a feat they couldn't do the in the time the marksman arrived and started killing people. However; they weren't expecting to find Serov in the condition that he is in. Not wanting to take a chance of enraging the pinkette they all gave them as much distance as possible while checking on the hostages and escorting the prisoners.

"Good job, you can head back to your guild, we'll take care of everything from here. The council will send you both your reward once everything is sorted out" the Rune Knight from before told both Fairy Tail mages before getting back to work.

Now that the job is done, both mages start to make their way to the train station. Erza, who is still shocked by what she saw, needed answers. There has to be some sort of explanation for what her partner did. Not being one to wait patiently, she will get her answers sooner than later. Seeing a perfect opportunity, Erza threw Natsu against a wall in alley that they were passing.

"What the hell was that for Erza?!" Natsu ask angrily. Feeling frustrated from having to deal with Serov in way that he didn't want to, this is the last thing that he needs.

"I should be asking you that. What the hell happened back there!?" Erza yells back

"Which part? A lot happened." He asked in slightly sarcastic tone, though he assumed he knew what she was asking about.

"Which part? How about the part where you ripped Serov's arm then completely crushed his other hand. Or, how about the part where you threatened to kill each one of his followers? Hell, you looked like you we're ready to go through it if they so much as flinched. That isn't what we do as Fairy Tail mages. That isn't right!" She yells, while glaring angrily at the dragon slayer. The look that she is getting from him unsettled her slightly but she held firm, this isn't the time for that. She isn't scared for her safety, especially from Natsu, but there was something in his eyes that doesn't sit right with her.

Natsu looked ready to blow up after she started yelling at him. But he held it all in, he knew that the knight hasn't seen this side of him before so this kind of reaction was expected on his part. "Isn't right, all I did was bring Serov down, ensure that he couldn't harm anyone else, and 'convince' his followers to give up without a fight. What part of that isn't right?"

"You ripped a man's arm off, threatened to kill people, and got an innocent person shot!"

"Getting Emily shot is not only my biggest regret of the day but my only one." Natsu replied. He hated being in this position, some innocent person getting hurt because of a bad judgement call that he made is a feeling that he doesn't want to experience again.

"What, so you don't regret everything else that happened? What you did was going too far!"

"Too far?!" Natsu says; reaching his boiling point, the temperature in the alley starts rising. "Why don't you talk to all the families of the people that bastard killed and tell me I went too far. As far as I'm concerned he got the least of what he deserved." He yells angrily.

"What are you saying, that you would've killed him and his men?!" Erza retorts. Natsu didn't answer but instead shoved passed her to make his way to the train station, not before the redhead caught a familiar look in his eyes. "Natsu" she says her eyes widen in realization at that look, disturbed that the pinkette didn't attempt to make an argument that he wouldn't do such a thing.

Natsu stops for a moment, not bothering to look at his friend. "Erza, let's just say that if Gramps didn't specifically tell me to capture Serov alive, this day would have gone differently." He says as he resumes walking to the train station. "Come on; let's get back to the guild. We're done here"

Erza didn't follow right away, still in shock of what she had learned. But standing here isn't going to do her any good. She picks up the pace and reaches the station with the dragon slayer. This is going to be a long trip for the two mages.

 **Scene Change**

It's now night time in Magnolia and as such everyone in the guild had left to go home for the night. The only person left in the guild hall was Makarov. The old man is sitting at the bar, drinking a beer, and thinking of the events that happened that day. A few hours earlier Natsu had arrived back from the mission alone. Concerned, the master asks the pinkette where Erza was only to be informed that she needed some time to herself after the mission. After getting the report from Natsu, he was happy that the dragon slayer had done as he was told but still didn't like the results. Makarov didn't know why he was surprised, the first time he met Natsu should have been an indicator that something like this would happen if he didn't kill Serov. Sure he got an ear full from the council, but what bothered him now is Erza. In the time that she has been in the guild, she has always arrived at the guild right away to report how her jobs had gone. But now, he couldn't help but feel worried for her.

"M…master, you're still here. Can we speak?" Erza ask, bringing the old man out of his thoughts.

"Oh Erza, I didn't hear you come in. Of course we can speak my dear." Makarov said as he turned around on the barstool to give the young girl his full attention. "Ordinarily I would ask what is bothering you, but this time I believe I know what it is. It's about Natsu isn't it?" He asks in a gentle tone.

"Yes, it is. Can I assume he has already informed you on how the mission had gone?"

"He has told me all about the mission, he even told me about you confronting him after everything was."

"He did?" Erza ask in genuine shock. She assumed that the pinkette would have left that part out. "What exactly did he say?"

"He told me why you had confronted him and all about the argument, he included everything that was said."

"Master, if I may. He said that if you hadn't told him to capture Serov alive that this day 'would have gone differently'; do you believe that he would have killed Serov if you hadn't said to take him alive."

Makarov couldn't hold back the deep sigh that he released. He knew that this was bound to be conversation that he would need to have with someone from his guild. He just hoped that it would have happened much later. "Erza, I can safely say that Natsu would have killed him in a heartbeat if it wasn't for what I told him. And from what I've seen him do, I believe he could have done so quite literally."

"What do you mean, Master?" Erza asks, as much as she doesn't want to hear the answer, she knew that she had to hear it for herself.

"When I first met Natsu, he had just finished killing six men that were trying to kill him." Makarov said as he saw the shocked expression appear on the young knight's face.

"Why were they trying to kill Natsu?" Erza asks, not believing that Natsu had killed multiple people before joining the guild. Other questions started to form in her mind. None of those questions were pleasant, to say the least.

"From what Natsu told me, they were a group of mages that enjoyed torturing and killing people and were planning to do the same thing to him. Natsu gave them a chance to leave with their lives, but they refused and they paid for that mistake."

"Why would he offer to let them go if he just ended up killing them anyways?"

"It's because that is how he was taught. Natsu's father didn't only teach him his magic, but also how to take a life. Natsu told me that while his father taught him to kill; he was also taught how important, valuable, and beautiful life is and how important it is to protect. And as such he will do anything to protect it from those who have no regard for life. That is why told him to capture Serov. I knew if I hadn't than Natsu would have killed him at the first chance he had because that is what he was taught to do and raised to believe." Makarov explained, wanting to make sure that Erza knew that Natsu is not some mindless killer

"But that isn't what we do in this guild. How could you let someone so willing to kill join the guild?"

"There are a few reasons behind my reasoning. First off, the Fairy Tail will never turn away a mage, despite what they have done in the past. Secondly, when I met Natsu he had so much potential that I was amazed and immediately wanted him to join our family. The last time I met a mage with that much potential was Gildarts. The last reason is that as Fairy Tail mages, when we see someone going down a dark path, it is our responsibility to bring them back to the light." There were other reasons that the master could have said, but he decided that those could be left for another time.

"So you brought him here because you thought he was going to become a dark mage?" Erza interrupts.

"Not at all. From what Natsu has told me about what he was taught, I don't believe he is capable of being a dark mage. That being said; I wouldn't describe him as a legal one either."

"Why, not?" the knight asked, confused as to how someone who uses magic couldn't be described as a legal or dark mage.

"First off let me ask you something, in magic do you believe that light and dark are two completely different things?" Makarov asked only to get a nod from the redhead. "What if I told you that two were in fact two sides of the same coin?" he said only to get a confused look from the knight.

"What do you mean?" Erza asks. From what she knows, light and dark couldn't be more different from each other.

"What I mean is that within everyone exist both light and dark. Whichever is more dominant varies from person to person based on the events in their life. This is the case for even you; your past has left a dark mark on you internally. However; it's your desire to overcome that darkness that aligns you with the light side of magic."

Erza takes a second to process everything, and she couldn't argue with Makarov. She's fully aware of how her past has affected her and how much it influences her decisions. It's why she is the way she is. It's why she is always striving to becoming stronger, to protect everyone and never lose anyone again. "So what side does Natsu align with?"

"Both. You see, Natsu is of the rare few who could walk the line between light and dark and not give way to either side. It's not an easy thing to do and most of those who try more often than not never do so successfully."

"Do you know why he is that way?"

"That I do not. Natsu is quite reluctant about giving out information from his life before Fairy Tail. From what I have figured out, there are things that have happened in his past that he doesn't talk about; whether it is because some are not memories he is particularly fond of or it's simply something that he does not want to talk about them I do not know." Makarov said as he thought back to all the conversations he has with the pinkette, wanting to learn more about his training, past events, etc.

Understanding about not wanting to talk about the past, Erza couldn't help but wonder what events lead Natsu to being who he is. Was there some traumatic event that psychologically scarred him, is it because of the nature of his magic? If so, then is Wendy bound to go down the same route? "Master, what about Wendy, Natsu has said that he is going to be training her. What if he teaches her to kill like he was?" Erza ask, not believing that she forgot that the newest member of their family is a dragon slayer and is going to be trained in magic by Natsu.

"I have already asked Natsu about that very thing this morning, and you can relax, he won't be teaching her how to kill." Makarov said as reassuringly as possible. He deliberately decided to leave out the rest of that conversation; she didn't need to know about it until it became necessary.

"How can you be so sure? For all you know, he could have been lying to earlier."

"Simple, I have faith in the boy, so should you. You are part of the same family after all. Besides, Natsu's not much of a liar."

Erza couldn't help but feel jealous of Makarov, as much as she wants to have faith in Natsu, she couldn't. There is something that keeps her from having complete faith in him. The knight has seen the softer and kind side that dragon slayer has, but it's his darker side that keeps her from wanting to believe in him.

"Do you have any more questions?" Makarov asked. He could see the internal dilemma that Erza is having. As much as he would like to help her get past it, this is something that the knight has to overcome on her own.

"Yes Master, has Natsu killed anyone since he came to the guild?"

"Thankfully he has not. Hopefully I can change his mind on killing before that day comes." Even though the way he said made it seems that he is confident, Makarov would be lying if he said that he didn't have any doubts. He knew how stubborn and hard headed Natsu is.

"And what if you can't?"

"Then I want to teach him that giving people a chance to change is a far better option than out right killing them." The master knew that he has a challenge ahead of him with this. Luckily, convincing Natsu to give people a chance to change seems for more possible than convincing him to completely change his stance on killing. "Is there anything else you would like to ask?"

"No Master, that is all for now. I'm sorry for taking up your time?" Erza says, while she still has her doubts this conversation did help a bit.

"There is no need for apologies Erza." Makarov said as Erza left the guild. 'Well, that went better than I anticipated. Hopefully it will be sometime before I have to have another one of these conversations' he thought as he returned to his drink.

 **And there it is, the end of the new the chapter. Holy shit, I didn't think that this chapter would be this long. So first off I want to apologize, I know last chapter I said that I would update by Christmas and clearly didn't happen. I overestimated how much free time I had that week. Hopefully this extra-long chapter makes up for that. Originally the Wendy part of the chapter and the Serov/Erza part were planned to be two different chapters but I put them together because, by themselves, both parts were too short to get their own chapter. Hopefully it doesn't seem too weird or out of place. Thank you to everyone that read, followed, favorited since the last chapter as well to everyone that left a review.**

 **Not much news to cover this time. First off I would like to say that I'm changing my update schedule slightly. Instead of updating every two weeks, it'll be every 2-3 weeks. It will be far more manageable for me and give me more time to write longer chapters like this. The next thing is that I will start posting chapter progress updates in my bio to give everyone a better idea when the next chapter will be out. And the last piece of news is that I'm going to be setting up a pole on whether Juvia should be a Water Dragon Slayer or not. Regardless of how results turn out the OC is still a Dragon Slayer and is still part of the harem.**

 **Speaking of which, time for Harem news. Feel free to skip ahead if you're not interested. Its official the last spot in the harem goes to Hisui. Well, she is still in the harem but I'm making a small change to the number of girls in the harem by adding two more spots. If you're wondering why, well, I couldn't help it. I saw some recommendations that I put a little too much thought into. I'm still trying to keep harem size relatively small. So keep voting for who you want. Here are the suggestions that I think would be the easiest to add that also seem the most interesting or most asked for: Bisca, Dimaria, Irene, and Brandish. Additionally I would also like to suggest a different OC than the Velvet Crowe one and this new one would be Laxus' sister. The idea for this OC came from talking to princenjgv. If she does end up becoming a character she'll have her own magic and won't be a lightning mage or a dragon slayer. I want to make her a unique character instead of a just a Laxus clone, she'll only be a part of the story if she becomes a part of the harem. I already have enough characters added to this fic and don't want to add characters with recurring roles that will be only be relevant as side characters at best.**

 **Now onto the Reviews**

 **GreekfanFT: Chapters like this, or the previous, where characters learn about Natsu's stance on death/killing will happen sporadically as those characters grow closer to him. In regards to Natsu needing motivation to get stronger, don't worry I got that covered.**

 **Xervo LotCN: First off let me explain that opinions and feedback will always be welcomed. The reason why there is a limit on how many girls are in the harem is because is of pacing and wanting to keep it manageable. Since I want to take time to set up everyone's feelings and adding to many girls will slow down the pace by a lot. Also I know at some point I will get lazy with everyone's motivation if I add too many girls. It was a very close decision between the OC and Juvia and the only reason why I picked the OC is because I liked her character a little more. That being said I did put a lot of thought into making Juvia a dragon slayer and still have plans for her if she becomes one. The reason why Mavis is in the harem is because of a suggestion that I got carried away with and just decided, screw it she's in. Also with giving Natsu magic based on some of Killua's nen abilities, I'm going to have to pass on that idea because honestly Natsu is already really powerful as it is and I don't want to make him godlike or untouchable this early in the story.**

 **Pmwms94: The OC will be introduced as an independent mage. If Juvia becomes a Water Dragon Slayer, she'll still be a Phantom before joining Fairy Tail.**

 **Carmelo Hernandez: The only people that will know about Natsu's stance on death/killing will be the people he's closest too. The rest of the guild will just hear rumors and run with it. Whether they try to change Natsu or not is still up in the air at the moment because everyone will have their own opinions on it.**

 **The-real-dragon-rider: …Holy shit, you just gave me a great idea on how to get Hisui and Natsu to start interacting with each other. Also, Goddammit, you gave me a great idea for what to do with the Velvet OC and now I have to choose which I like better, your idea or my original one.**

 **Smeagole: Love your reasoning behind adding Chelia.**

 **Omni-Creator Kami of Anime: Like I mentioned earlier, Mavis is in the harem because I got carried away and couldn't help it. I get carried away with things pretty easily. Also, this story is AU and there are a lot of things that I'm changing. Mavis and Zeref's relationship is that they are close friends but that's it. August mother will be someone else just for the sake of it. And Mavis still has the Contradiction Curse and because of that she will be the last girl to officially join the harem. I do have plans for dealing with the curse but those plans won't be seen until much later on. As for adding one of the Alvarez girls, I'm actually really close to saying screw it and just adding Dimaria because she's my favorite of the Alvarez girls. Also I'm not opposed to adding Irene because she's a MILF. The reason why I'm hesitant to add her is because of her relationship with Erza, which will be handled differently in this, and I'm not sure if I want to have a mother and daughter chasing after the same guy in this fic.**

 **And that's it; I hope all of you enjoyed this chapter. And quick question, does anyone know why guest reviews don't show up until much later after they are posted. I'm just curious because I notice that they usually don't show up until a few days later at least.**

 **Anyways, have a question, then either leave a review or send me a PM.**

 **Till next time**

 **Mreh**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: The Power to Control**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

"Ugh, everything hurts so much" Wendy complains as she slams her head on a table in the guild. The others around her look at the young bluenette with pity in their eyes.

"Trust me Wendy that pain and soreness you're feeling is how you know your training is going well." Natsu said with a proud smile on his face. "If you think this is tough just wait until you start learning how to fight or some of the more advanced spells"

Wendy could only groan in response, even then she barely had the strength for that.

"Didn't you say that you were going to take it easy on her?" Mira asked, slightly glaring at the older dragon slayer. She knew how seriously Natsu took training from the time she spent training with him. Sure, he said that he was going to take it easy on Wendy for now, but he never specified what he considered "easy".

"I am, we just have a magic that is very physically demanding" Natsu stated in an attempt to defend himself.

"He's been making me run ten miles and destroy trees and boulders by punching them every morning" Wendy groaned out, not having enough strength to lift her head from the table that was quickly becoming the most comfortable thing in the world to her in that moment. Hearing this, everyone at the table glared at Natsu while also feeling an overwhelming amount of sympathy for poor little Wendy.

"What, that's easy compared to what I went through at her age" Natsu said in an attempt to defend himself. "At least I'm letting Wendy use her magic to destroy things instead of her bare fist." He finished getting a deadpanned stare from everyone.

"Of course you would think that's easy," Mira said plainly.

"Compared to what I went through, it is."

"You know, from what I've heard of your training, I'm convinced that you're not actually human." Cana said, questioning the pinkette's continued state of existence.

"Hey Wendy, are you sure that you can handle this kind of training?" Lisanna asked, her voice filled with concern.

"Yes" Wendy says, having not moved from her spot, not that she had the energy to do so if she wanted to. "I already agreed to do this; I don't want to give up after only a week."

"That's the spirit. This is only the basics; once you get used to it the rest will come more naturally." Natsu said. Hearing this, Wendy's spirit was lifted quite a bit. "Then we can get to the more difficult lessons and advanced techniques. Once we get there, you're really going to feel it then." He continues with excitement in his voice. Hearing this, whatever was left of Wendy's spirit had shattered as she somehow managed to sink further into the table. Seeing how the bluenette had reacted, everyone once again glared at Natsu. Even the older slayer seemed to notice how Wendy had reacted and he couldn't help but think back to the days when he didn't have the strength to move a muscle. "On the bright side I'm giving you a couple days off so that you can recover."

"Yay" Wendy barely groans out.

"While I admit that Natsu's way of training is a bit excessive, to say the least, I can't argue with how effective it will be in the long run. Surely if you keep up with your training then I have no doubt that you will become a truly talented mage in the future Wendy." Makarov said as he approached the group.

"Do you really think so Master?" Wendy asked as she turned her head to face the old man, a feat that required more strength than she would like to admit.

"Of course my dear, I have no doubt about it."

"So what's up Gramps, do you need something?" Natsu asks.

"That I do. Natsu, would you please come to my office, there is something that I need to discuss with you."

"Sure" He answered as the two made their way to Makarov's office

"What do you think Master wants to talk to Natsu about?" Lisanna asked

"He probably has another mission for him. That's usually the only reason why Natsu goes to his office." Mira answers.

"That and when he is in trouble for destroying something." Cana said

"That too" Mira adds on while shaking her head in agreement.

 **In Makarov's office**

"So what's up Gramps?" Natsu asks, really hoping that he isn't about to get chewed out for something.

"You can relax Natsu, you're not in trouble for anything" Makarov said. Hearing this Natsu lets a sigh of relief, earning an amused chuckle from the old man. "Before we get into the reason why you're here, let me ask you something. How is Wendy's training going?" he asks with genuine curiosity. Every time the younger dragon slayer had come to the guild after one of her training sessions with the pinkette, she appears to be incredibly exhausted. While she does occasionally complain about her soreness, she always seemed eager for her next lesson.

"Great, she was a little slow when we started but she's doing great now. Hell, I'm surprised by how quick she's picking up a few of the spells that I've showed her." Natsu said. He couldn't deny how much Wendy has progressed in the short time she has been training with him. Even though they are still working through the basics, he couldn't help but notice how quickly she seems to pick up on everything. "I might even go as far as saying that she's a natural."

"That's amazing; I can't wait to see what kind of mage she becomes in the future."

"Neither can I. So what did you need to talk to me about?"

"I have another job from the council and I believe you're the best person for it that's currently here."

"It must be serious then. So, what's the job?"

"According to the council, there is a group of cultist who are in the process of either freeing or summoning a demon. What they intend to do with it is still unclear at the moment. You are to take care of these cultists before they can carry out whatever they have planned. In the case that the demon is released, you are to eliminate it as soon as possible."

"This sounds like it's going to be a fun mission" Natsu said with a smirk appearing on face.

"Do not take this so casually." Makarov said as he narrowed his eyes on the pinkette, his tone alone telling Natsu just how serious this is. "From what I have been told this is a very dangerous group of cultists that are not to be taken lightly. In fact, this job ranks just below the average s-class quest. Under normal circumstances I would have sent one of our s-class mages on this job just to be safe."

"Then why send me? Why not just send one of them?"

"Two reasons. The first being that they are currently unavailable and it would take too long for them to drop what they are doing to go take care of this job. The second reason is I believe you are capable enough to handle a job of this magnitude. And since you haven't had a mission that has given you a proper challenge yet, this may be a great opportunity for you."

"Thanks for the opportunity then. So, do you want me to get someone to tag along then?"

"Not this time. While the guild has no shortage of talented mages, most of them aren't ready for a mission of this caliber just yet. You however, are ready for something like this. Not to mention I know you are far stronger than you have showed us."

Natsu couldn't help but chuckle at the last part of what Makarov had said. "I really can't hide anything from you, can I?"

"You should give yourself more credit; you're doing a far better job than you think." Makarov said while also chuckling before turning serious once again. "Before you leave, I want you to promise me that you'll be careful. You're free to do whatever you deem necessary to not only accomplish this mission but to survive as well."

"I promise. One last thing, do you want me to capture these cultists alive?"

"If at all possible then yes. However; given their reputation, I don't believe it'll be possible to do so this time." Makarov said as he released a deep sigh at the end, much to Natsu's shock.

"For someone who's so keen on sparing everyone, I'm surprised to hear you say that. What changed?"

"Given the reputation of these cultists and not knowing what they intend to do with this demon; it may prove too hazardous to try to capture them alive."

"Fair enough. Still, it's surprising to hear that you are okay with me killing these cultists."

"Don't get me wrong, by no means am I ok with taking a life nor will I ever see killing as a good thing. However; I have lived long enough to know that there is a difference between what is "right and wrong" and what is "necessary and unnecessary" and have learned there are times when taking a life are an unfortunate necessity." He said as let out a deep sigh at the end of what he said. He couldn't help but think back on the times when he was put into situations where he had to take someone's life. He could clearly remember the emotions that he felt after those times, primarily the guilt. While he has long since come to terms with those emotions and has moved on, those memories still lingered.

"Then why have you been so against me killing?" Natsu asked in genuine curiosity. The topic of the pinkette's stance on killing had been a frequent topic of conversation between the two.

"That's just the old man in me that wants to shield everyone in the guild from things like that, killing in particular. I know first-hand how psychologically and emotionally devastating taking a life can be and have seen plenty of people be destroyed by the guilt of what they had done. It's something that I want to protect our guild mates from as much as possible for as long as possible."

"Why try to keep from killing? You know I don't have a problem with a taking a life."

"Like I said, it's just the old man in me. But there is another reason. While it has not been an issue yet, killing every dark mages you come across will go against your duty as a mage of Fairy Tail."

"What duty is that?"

"When you see someone going down a dark path it is your duty to try to bring them back to the light."

"And what if they don't want to be brought back or don't deserve to be?"

"Then I'll leave what to do up to you. Regardless, everyone at least deserves a chance of redemption. While there are plenty of people that choose that path, some people are lead astray at some point in their life and didn't have anyone to turn to when they needed it most. That is what Fairy Tail is meant to be, a home for those that have lost their way, a place they can find the support they need."

This is a lot to take in for the pinkette. While he now understands why Makarov is opposed to killing, there is something that leaves him with questions. "Are you telling me that you want me to spare every dark mage I fight?"

"Of course not, I know that not everyone can change and some are too far gone to help them turn away from their path. I've had to learn this lesson the hard way throughout my life. However; most of those that I have been able to help, have changed for the better. All I'm asking is that you give them a chance. You already give people a chance to surrender before you kill them; how is what I'm asking of you any different."

"Fine, I'll give it a try. I'm not saying I'll spare every dark mage I come across; but I'll try to help who I can."

"Thank you Natsu, that's all I'm asking. Besides, if I expected you to spare every dark mage you come across, then why would I have told you to do whatever you need to with those cultists? Speaking of which, don't you have job to accomplish."

"Wow, trying to get of me already?" Natsu said with a light chuckle

"Of course, I've already wasted enough time as it is and this job is important, so hurry up and get going." Makarov said, enjoying their usual banter.

"Have any idea where I can find them?"

"There are rumors that they are currently held up somewhere outside of Aramore. Unfortunately I have no other information. "

"Eh, I'll find them. Let me talk to Wendy and I'll get going." Natsu said, happy that Wendy had a spell like **Troia** at her disposal.

"Good luck my boy and be safe."

"Come on Gramps, it's me."

"I know, that's why I'm telling you."

 **Sometime later**

After arriving in Aramore, Natsu did some looking around in attempt to find any kind of rumor. After an hour of searching he heard a rumor of some strange people lurking around a few miles northeast of the town near an abandoned church. Deciding that it was the best lead that he had Natsu made his way to check out the legitimacy of this rumor. After walking towards their supposed location, Natsu picked up a scent that caught his attention. From what he could tell, there are a lot of people in a single area.

'Found 'em' Natsu thought, slightly smirking. From what he could tell from their scents, all of these people were as far from peaceful and gentle as possible. He could literally smell the blood on them from where he is, despite still being a few miles from them.

As he approached their locations, the pinkette saw what remained of an abandoned church that looked as though it could collapse at any moment. Curiosity getting the better of him, Natsu sneaks in to see what these cultists are up to. Finding a collapsed wall to hide behind, the dragon slayer eavesdrops on the currently unsuspecting cultists.

"Today is the day my brothers and sisters." One of the cultists announced to the rest. This cultist appeared to be their leader from the way he is talking. "After months of searching we have finally acquired a book containing a demon created by our lord Zeref himself." He announced, getting a cheer from the rest of the cultists. "With this demon, we will one step closer to reuniting with our lord."

'So they have one of Zeref's demons. I wonder how strong it is' Natsu thought in genuine curiosity. He was told that he was told to stop these cultists from whatever they had planned for the demon. However; he hasn't had a real challenge in a while and fighting this demon and cultists at the same time could be fun. What to do, what to do. Choose the smart option and take care of the cultists before they can do anything with the demon or the fun option and let them release the demon and just wing it. Tough choice.

"I release you, Goddess of the Chill Moon" the cultist's leader yells dramatically, holding the demons book. Light filled the run downed church.

'Fun options it is.' Natsu thought, having been brought out of his internal debate.

When the light faded, everyone was surprised by what they saw. Everyone, minus the pinkette, was expecting a demon with a large and imposing figure whose very presence could instill unparalleled fear in those within its vicinity, if the legends were anything to go by. Having grown up practically surrounded by demons and knowing what they're really like, Natsu didn't know what to expect.

Standing before everyone wasn't a large and intimidating monster but a young girl. She has long black hair and purple eyes and is wearing a sleeveless purple kimono. She has a circular symbol on her forehead along with matching markings on her shoulders. She looks no older than the dragon slayer hiding behind the collapsed wall. The only physical attribute that proves that she is a demon are the golden horns sticking out both sides of her head.

Looking at the cultists in front of her, the demon is immediately… unimpressed, if the bored look on her face is anything to go by.

"Now that you are free, tell us what we must do to accomplish our goals" the leader said. After decades of studying everything there is about Zeref, what he has accomplished, and the months of work it took to acquire one of his idol's infamous books, he is closer to achieving his dreams than ever before.

"Nope" the demon said as she started making her way towards the nearest exit, not bothering to spare another glance towards the cultist that was already starting to annoy her. The exit she is walking towards just happens to be near a certain collapsed wall.

"What? Why would you not help us reunite with Zeref? You are one of his demons, why would you not want to reunite with your creator?" The leader asks. Years of hard work going out the window, all because of some ungrateful demon that couldn't repay their kindness for freeing her.

"Simple, I don't care."

"Please, you have to help us. You are the key to us reuniting with Zeref" the leader pleads.

The demon lets out and huff before turning towards the leader, her eyes showing just how little she cares for these annoying cultists. "Give me one good reason why I should bother helping you."

"A good reason, we freed you and you owe us. What better reason do we need? I'd say you are more than obligated to repay our kindness." The leader says, seething in anger.

"It's clear that you are not intelligent enough to understand what I said so let me repeat myself. Give me a "good" reason why I should you help you. Should I repeat myself again, you simpleton." The demon said with cold tone and a slight edge in her voice.

"What?" the leader ask, his widening at what the demon said.

"You see, I don't care about finding Zeref since it was him who sealed me away and helping such pathetic beings like all of you would be a waste of my time. Even acknowledging your existence is pointless and a complete waste." She said as she started making her way towards the exit once again.

"Fine, if you won't help us then we'll just force you to." The leader yells, no longer able to contain his anger. "What are you idiots waiting for, grab that demon!"

Following their leader's orders; two of the cultists rush towards the demon in an attempt to grab her. When they were an inch away from grabbing the demon; the demon stopped dead in her tracks and both of the cultist's head had instantly spun a full 180 degrees, the sound of their necks snapping loud enough for all to hear.

"What a pitiful ending to a pathetic story." The demon said, turning to face cultists. "I doubt any of you will have a more interesting ending than your comrades." She said as she started staring down the cultists

After a couple seconds, though for the cultists it felt like hours, the tension was broken by a certain pinkette making his presence known.

"You know, for a bunch of cultists who worship a guy that makes demons, it's amazing that none of you know anything about the demons he's made." Natsu said as he stepped away from his hiding spot, walking up to beside the demon.

"Who are you?" The leader asks, not in the mood for any more surprises.

"Someone who was sent to stop you from doing whatever you planned on doing with her." The pinkette said while gesturing to the demon beside him. "Though it looks like you got this covered." He said while looking at the demon.

She didn't respond but instead just stared at him blankly, feeling as though that she knows the pinkette from somewhere.

"Great, just what I need. Another obstacle in my way." The leader seethed in anger. He is no mood for anything else unexpected. "What are all of you waiting for?! Kill him and capture that damn demon! It'll help us whether it wants us to or not!" he bellows out to the rest of the cultists.

"Wait!" Natsu yells out, stopping the cultists' dead in their tracks and getting a confused look from everyone there. "I'm giving all of you one chance to surrender."

No one there could believe what they had just heard. "Are you serious?" the leader ask, disbelief clear on his face.

"Yep, it's the only way any of you will live past today."

"Would you idiots just kill him already!" The leader yells out. Magic circles appear in front of most of the Cultist's hands, each of them firing off their own respective ranged attacks.

"Guess that's a no." Natsu says as he takes cover behind the collapsed wall he was previously hiding behind. Though he notices he isn't the only one to do so. Looking to the side he sees the demon taking cover besides him. "So, how's it going?"

"We're being attacked and that's all you have to ask?" she says plainly.

"Why not? I'm waiting for them to use up their magic and have nothing to do until then."

"Fair enough"

"So, you got a name?"

"What?"

"I asked what your name is."

"Why would you want to know that?"

"Just curious, would you rather I just call you demon instead?"

"Sayla" the now named Sayla said just as the cultists attack stops.

"Good to meet you, I'm Natsu. So you ready for a fight?" he said with a smirk while picking up a piece of ruble.

"Yes" Sayla said, eager to get rid of the cultists that has annoyed her too much in the short time she has unfortunately known them.

"Are they dead?" one of the cultists asks. They see a piece of rubble flying up in the air, coming from behind the collapsed wall. Once the rubble reached its peak in the air it shot towards the head of one of the cultists, causing it burst on contact. The other cultists could only stare in shock as looked at the headless corpse that is spurting blood out of what remained of the head before the body fell to the floor.

"Nice shot" Natsu said, feeling genuinely impressed.

"Thank you" Sayla said, enjoying the shocked expressions on the cultists face.

"So you can control things?"

"And people."

"That'll be useful." Natsu said as he saw that cultists are getting over their shock. "Let's hurry up and take care of them." He said as he started smirking. Seeing that one of the cultists is only a few feet from him. He rushes towards the poor fool and grabs them by the head and slams it straight into the stone floor, shattering the cultist's skull instantly. Seeing two more cultists lunging towards him to attack, the pinkette grows one of his claws and stares down the two as they draw closer. Once they are only a couple feet away Natsu disappears once again only to reappear behind them, crouching on the ground. As soon as he retracts his claw both cultist's throats split open with large amounts of spraying out.

Out of the corner of the dragon slayers eye he sees three more cultists charging towards him from behind intending to cut him down with the bladed weapons in their respective hands. However; before Natsu could attack the three, the cultists in the middle thrusts their sword towards their comrade to their right. Before the cultists on the right could realize what is happening, he was stabbed through his chest, killing him instantly.

"Angela, what are you doing!?" the cultists on the left yells out in confusion.

"I don't know my body moved on its own." She says as turns to other cultist, raising her sword to attack.

"What are you doing? Stop!" the other cultist yells, trying to bring up his weapon to protect himself but to no avail. It's like he wasn't in control of his own body.

"I can't" she yells as she swings her sword, decapitating him. Desperately trying to figure out what is happening the cultist looks around in attempt to understand what is happening. As she looks around she spots the demon starring her down holding out her hand towards her. Before she could comprehend what's happening, she notices movement out of the corner of her eye. She sees the cultist that she had just decapitated moving to swing his axe towards. The axe cuts straight through her stomach, causing her organs to spill out onto the floor.

Seeing this, Natsu couldn't help but be impressed by the level of control that Sayla is showing. Looking towards the demon, he sees that a cultist that has managed to sneak up behind her. He throws a small ball of fire towards the sneaking cultist, reducing him to ash immediately

Seeing the attack was sent right past her, Sayla turns to see what remains of the cultist being reduced to ash. Internally thanking the pinkette, she sees another of the cultist behind Natsu, trying to attack him while he is off guard.

Hearing some movement behind him, Natsu turns around and sees a cultist attempting to attack him. The dragon slayer cocks his arm back, ready to throw an attack of his own. But before he could do so, an axe is sent flying from behind the slayer and imbeds itself deep with the cultist's head. Recognizing the axe, Natsu once again turns towards Sayla, sending her his own thanks towards her.

"Is it just me or is it kind of disappointing how weak these guys are?" Natsu said as he walked up besides Sayla and looks at the remaining cultists.

"I agree, I knew that this would be a boring fight but I didn't think it would be this easy." Sayla said, feeling rather let down by how week these cultists really are. At least she is pleasantly surprised by the pinkette beside her. 'He's pretty strong, for a human.' She thought.

"What do you say we finish this then?"

"Sounds good"

"Then I'll take this half" Natsu said as he cocks his fist back. **"Fire Fist"** he yells as he fires a pillar of red and orange flames towards the cultists, wiping out half of them in an instant. "How's that" he said with a proud grin as he stared down the remaining half of the cultists who were surprised by how powerful a single child is.

"Not bad, but…" Sayla said as she pointed towards two stone walls on opposite sides of the cultists. Each of them trying to figure out what the demon is planning so they can try to survive it. Before they could put more thought into it, the walls Sayla was pointing at had dislodged themselves and flew towards each other. The cultists were squished between the two solid stone walls, resulting in blood spraying out the sides. "My attack was cooler" she finished with a proud grin of her own.

"Hmph, show off" Natsu pouted.

"Like you're any different." Sayla said as she rolled her eyes at the pinkette's antics

"If you want something done right you have to do it yourself." The cult leader said, making his presence known for the first time since the fight started. To say he is angry would be an understatement. After seeing his comrades wiped out at the hands of these two before him that were also undermining decades of research and work he is far beyond angry at this point.

"Wait, you're still alive?" Natsu asked in genuine confusion. He could've sworn this guy was one of the first ones killed.

"I must admit that I forgot about him as well. Then again, his tale isn't one worth remembering to begin with." Sayla said as she stared blankly at the remaining cultists, immediately understanding why it was so easy for her to forget about him.

"To think two runts could undermine years of hard work in a matter of minutes. It is simply inexcusable to suffer such an indignity."

"It's not our fault that you have no idea what you're doing." Natsu said while getting a nod of agreement from Sayla.

"Doesn't matter anymore, I'll personally make sure that the two of you pay for this." The leader said as his magic started flaring. As the leader's magic started giving off more magic, both Natsu and Sayla realize that not only is he the brains of this but the power behind it as well.

"I'm sure that will work as well as your other plans have" Sayla said, already bored from this conversation.

"I'll see to it that the both of you pay for what you have done" he said through clenched teeth

"Do you want to take him or can I?" Natsu asks.

"You can take him, I'm going to see if they have any books" Sayla said as she went off to search through their supplies.

"Thanks have fun" Natsu said, excited that he may finally get a challenging fight. While the leader of these cultists may look unimpressive, the magical power he was giving off lead him to believe otherwise. The pinkette may have to take this fight seriously. **"Fire Fist"** Natsu shouts as he fires another pillar of flames towards the remaining cultist.

As the pillar of flames closes in the cult leader, he swipes his hand to the side, hitting the pillar of flames and redirecting them to away from himself. "Do not think that I will be done in so easily." He says before dashing towards the pinkette with one of his hands cocked back, encased in a white light.

Natsu, though surprised by the cultists speed, crosses his arms to block the attack. While the block was enough to keep him from being seriously harmed, it wasn't enough to keep him from being launched back towards a stone wall, resulting in a small dust cloud to be kicked up.

The lone cultists stared towards the dust cloud in anticipation. Under normal circumstances he would be confidant that his attack would have significantly injured a normal mage. But judging from what he has seen of the pinkette, he is anything but normal.

"Finally, someone that actually knows how to throw a punch" Natsu said, walking out of the dust cloud while wiping some dust off his shoulder, looking none the worse. "Though; it would be more fun if you were that strong without having to rely on magic."

"You still doubt my strength."

"Of course" Natsu said before disappearing again only reappear before the leader, throwing a powerful punch of his own. Seeing this, the cultist crosses his arms, with a familiar white light covering them, in attempt to protect him. The punch was strong enough send him flying back, almost colliding with the wall opposite the one the pinkette had crashed into.

The cultist could only look on in shock, amazed and terrified by how much raw strength the pinkette had without magic.

"And now I know how your magic works." Natsu said, happy that he now knew exactly how to deal with this last cultist.

"What are you talking about? There is no way you could have figured it out after only seeing me use it twice." The cultist said, assuming the pinkette was bluffing.

"You use a type of **Enhancement** magic that increases physical abilities. That punch I threw would have been more than enough to kill a normal mage. All I have to do is overpower whatever spell you use." Natsu said with a confidant smirk.

The cultist could only stare in shock that some child has figured out how his magic works in such a short time. "Doesn't matter, you still have no chance of defeating me."

"Want to bet on that?" Natsu said as his hand was engulfed in purple and black flames. **"Fire Devils Destruction Fist"** he yells out as he punches the cultists again. Seeing this, the cultist crosses his arms again and covers them with more white light than before. The punch was more than powerful enough to cause the cultist to collide with the wall behind him, resulting in him coughing up some blood.

The cultist couldn't believe what kind of power he is going up against. The sharp pain he's feeling is enough of to prove that true. If it wasn't for his spell defending him, he would have been lucky if that attack only shattered his arms. He's going to need a new strategy if wants to win. "Do you honestly believe that was strong enough to injure me?" he bluffed.

"You know, you're terrible liar." Natsu said with a knowing look.

"Then I'll to put everything I have into my attacks." He replied while his right hand is once again being encased in white light. However; his hand was surrounded by more light than what has been shown from before.

"If that's the case, I'll start taking it this seriously." The pinkette said as his right hand is encased in red and orange flames with gold embers. The magic the younger mage is giving off is much more than he has shown in a while.

"What?" The cultist couldn't believe what kind of power he is feeling; it easily surpassed anything that he himself is capable of.

"It's been awhile since I used my strongest magic. If you don't put everything you have into what you do next, you will die." The dragon slayer said with a sinister smirk. "Let's finish this; this fight has gone on long enough."

"Fine" the cultist said as he rushed towards the pinkette. **"Maximum Impact"** he yells.

Not one to be outdone, Natsu rushes towards the cultist as well. **"Fire Dragons Iron Fist"**

Their fists collided with each other, causing a shockwave to be sent through the church and a crater to form underneath the two mages. Locked in a stalemate, both attacks seemed to be completely even in terms of power. Well, they did for a couple seconds before Natsu's attack completely overpowered the other attack, resulting in quite an impressive explosion of power.

When the dust cleared, Natsu emerged, completely unharmed. The cultist however; isn't as fortunate as his opponent. The arm the leader had used to attack had been reduced to a charred and broken mess with multiple tears in the skin with copious amounts of blood pouring out. Half of his face hand been covered in severe burns with one of eyes appearing to be damaged beyond repair. The rest of his body isn't fairing much better with numerous severe burns covering him. The most surprising thing though, the cultist had somehow managed to survive that attack.

"How?" the cultist asked, his tone barely above a whisper and his pupils so small, Natsu could barely see them.

"Simple, I'm stronger" the dragon slayer said as he approached the downed cultist. "Though I have to admit. You're stronger than I thought you were. I'm actually impressed" he finished as he crouched down right in front of him. The pinkette raises one of his hands and the cultist could see that it was changing into a claw.

"Wait, please spare me. I haven't accomplished my goals!" the cultist pleads.

"Then you should have taken my offer before the fight started. I would have spared you and your comrades. I hope you find peace in the afterlife." Natsu says as he plunges his claw into the cultist's heart, killing him instantly. Standing up, he feels someone standing behind him. Turning around, he sees Sayla standing a few feet from him empty handed. "I take it you didn't find any interesting books."

"Unfortunately not." She said as she looked at the damaged caused to the church by the fight. It's a surprise that the building is still standing given its current condition. "So, what now?" she ask as she focuses her attention on the pinkette.

"Well, I was told to kill you if these cultists had managed to set you free." The dragon slayer said casually.

"I see" Sayla said as she prepared herself for another fight.

"Relax; I'm not actually going to kill you."

"Really, why not? Isn't that what you were told to do." She asked.

"I'm not the best at doing things I don't want to do. Besides; fighting beside was a lot of fun."

"But won't you get in trouble?"

"Probably, odd are I'll just get chewed out. I'm use to that so it's not that big of a deal."

"Then to repay your kindness… I won't kill you."

"How generous" Natsu said sarcastically while rolling his eyes

" **Go to sleep"** Sayla said, using her **Macro**. After a couple seconds, nothing happened

"Um, is something supposed to happen?" Natsu asked, confused if something was supposed to happen or not.

"Why hasn't my **Macro** worked?" Sayla asked herself, having never met someone who could resist her curse.

" **Render yourself unconscious"**

" **Knock yourself out"**

" **Don't be awake!"** she yells out, getting more and more frustrated with each failed attempt. "Why doesn't my **Macro** have any effect on you?!"

"Maybe it's because I'm really stubborn" Natsu suggest, still confused about what is happening.

"That shouldn't matter!" She yells out angrily again before rubbing her temple in frustration. "Fine, if I can't knock you out with my **Macro** , then I'll have to choose a more direct alternative." She said as she made a large piece of rubble levitate.

All this is happening right behind Natsu, who is still unaware of what's happening.

"Sorry for this." Sayla said as she made the piece of rubble shoot straight towards the back of Natsu's head. Right before impact, the pinkette effortlessly dodged the surprise attack. Shocked by the sudden dodge, Sayla could only stare in shock as she saw the rubble heading straight towards her face. Stuck in surprise, Sayla couldn't act fast enough to stop herself from getting hit. Luckily for her, Natsu had much better reflexes and managed to catch the rubble only when it was only a couple inches from striking Sayla.

Dropping the piece of rubble to the ground the dragon slayer stared the brunette who was still in a state of shock. He flicks her on the forehead in retaliation.

"Ow!" she squeaks out, hold her forehead with comically large eyes and a few tears pooling in the corners of her eyes. "What was that for?"

"For trying to knock me out for no reason. Why else would I do that" Natsu said with an incredulous expression on his face.

"That's mean" she whines

"Really… Look, there's a town a few miles from here, want to get something to eat?"

"I don't need your charity" Sayla said in attempt to save face. However; her stomach had other plans and decided to make its opinion known. Hearing her stomach grumble, she couldn't hide the fierce blush that appeared on her face. The pinkette's shit eating grin wasn't helping anything.

"What was that?" Natsu asked, fully enjoying the demons embarrassment.

"You didn't hear that!" Sayla said while glaring dangerously at the pinkette.

"No, I definitely heard… "

" **You didn't hear that!"** She repeated herself while using her **Macro**.

"Hear what?" Natsu said while tilting his head to the side in confusion.

"Right answer." the demon said, happy that her Macro was finally effect the pinkette.

"You know there's to be embarrassed about." Natsu said, revealing that he was just messing with the poor demon. Said demon crashed to the floor with a cloud of depression hanging over her head. "Come on, let's go, it'll be my treat." Natsu said as he made his way towards the exit with Sayla following shortly behind him. As they were leaving, the dragon slayer set fire to the church to burn away the bodies they left behind.

 **A couple hours later**

"There, feel better" Natsu said as he finished one of his many dishes.

"Yes, thanks for the food." Sayla said as she had finished her meal. Before the two had arrived at the restaurant she had changed her appearance by making her horns disappear so that she wouldn't scare anyone.

"So, what are you going to do after this?"

"Don't know, probably just wander around and look for some good books."

"If that's it, why don't you come with me and join Fairy Tail?"

"Come again?"

"I said why don't you join Fairy Tail? I know from experience that it's better than just wandering around with nothing to do."

"You may be right, but would they accept me? I am a demon after all."

"They'll accept you; Fairy Tail would never turn away anyone that wants to join."

"I guess I'll give it a try, not like I have anything else going on. Besides if I don't like it, I can just leave."

"Let's get going then"

 **Later at Fairy Tail**

"So you're telling me that these cultists had manage to acquire a book containing one of Zeref's demons, successfully released said demon, and you teamed up with her to kill the cultists before bringing her to our guild so that she can join" Makarov said while pinching the bridge of his nose. Out of all the ways this day could have gone, the older man could safely say this was indeed the last thing that he would expect. But here he is, sitting in his office with a troublesome dragon slayer and demon created by one of the most evil men in history. He's going to need a stiff drink after this.

"Yeah, that's what happened" Natsu said, acting as though everything that he had just said is completely normal. A feat the old man admits is impressive at times.

"At least you keep things interesting. I'm curious, you are aware that because this is in fact a council quest that I am required to turn in a report about has happened during the mission."

"Of course I know that."

"So what do you suggest I tell them. Because I can't just tell them that we have a demon from the book of Zeref and expect there would be no consequences because of that. No offense Sayla, I'm just stating the obvious to be sure Natsu is aware of might happen should the council learn of your being here."

"No offense taken, I assumed me being a demon would cause some sort of issue." Sayla replied, fully aware of the potential risk of her being here.

"Who's to say that you have to tell them the truth? Just tell the council that the cultists released the demon before I got there, it killed them all, and I killed it while it was in a weakened state after fighting the cultist."

"Before I agree to that option, there is something that I must ask first." Makarov said as he turned his gaze towards Sayla, a serious expression on his face. "Do you want to join our guild?"

"Yes sir"

"Then Welcome to Fairy Tail; where do you want your guild mark and in what color?"

"Wait, that's it?!" Sayla said in complete disbelief. She assumed that would have been either turned away or turned in to the council.

"Of course my dear; Fairy Tail would never turn away someone that wants to" Makarov said with a warm smile.

"See, just like I told you" Natsu said with a smile matching Gramps.

"Thank you sir. I would like my guild stamp in purple on my forearm, please."

"There's no need to call me sir now Sayla, you're part of our family now. You can drop the formalities if you'd like." Makarov said as he pulled the magic stamper from his desk to give his newest child her guild mark. "But there is a pressing matter that we must discuss." He said after giving Sayla her guild mark. "I have no problem with lying to the council; I have done it many times before. But I must ask that we keep your being a demon a secret. If the council were to find out that we are harboring a demon; it will cause a lot problems for the guild and potentially get us disbanded. I'm fully aware that I am asking you to hide who you really are and how terrible such a thing is. But I am asking you to do this, not just for your safety but for the safety of the rest of the guild as well." He finished with a serious expression. Telling one of his children to hide who she is something that he is not proud of doing; however, it's safer than basically announcing to the world that they have a demon from the book of Zeref as a member in their guild.

"I understand Master" Sayla said. While not happy that she has to keep her heritage a secret, she understands the dangers, especially if there are more people like those cultists out there.

"Thank you my dear, I know what I'm asking isn't fair or easy. Now that that's settled, there is one last order of business." Makarov said, feeling extremely grateful for Sayla's understanding.

"And what would that be?" Sayla asked, curious as to what that would be, not noticing Natsu's knowing grin.

"We need to celebrate you joining Fairy Tail of course" he said with a happy grin, earning from a small smile from his newest child.

 **There it is, finally done with this chapter. Sorry this chapter took longer than I said it would but this chapter was a pain in the ass to write. I wasn't happy with what I originally wrote and had to start over, twice. Even then this went through a couple revisions. That being said I'm happy with how it turned out. Please let me know what all of you think. There were a lot of things that had to happen and hopefully I pulled it off.**

 **Last chapter it was mentioned that Makarov is going to try to convince Natsu to start forgiving people and giving them a chance at redemption and I think some people interpreted that as I was going to have Natsu stop killing in general. Well, that's not the case, not entirely anyways. While there will be people he will spare, there will be plenty that won't be so lucky. Hopefully I explained that a little better in this chapter, I completely understand if that was misinterpreted, I'm not always the best at explaining things.**

 **Don't forget I have a poll on whether Juvia should be a dragon slayer or not and I'll leave that up until the next chapter comes out.**

 **On to Harem news, like always if you if you're not interest in that part of this story than just skip over this part. Reading over the last chapters AN I realized that I wrote something that may have been misinterpreted. Granted it was most likely misinterpreted because I did a poor job explaining it. The four girls that were listed in the last AN were merely girls that I thought would be: interesting to add, easiest to add, or most commonly voted for. I also forgot to include Juvia on that list, dammit. Feel free to vote for whoever you want to and that still includes the two OCs that have been previous mentioned. In case you forgot, one of those OCs is inspired by Velvet Crowe (Tales of Berseria) and the other is Laxus's sister. Next chapter I will list the girls that are officially in the harem.**

 **On to reviews**

 **Carmelo Hernandez: As of right now I'm not entirely sure how I want to explain Natsu's motivation. At this moment, I'm thinking it would be better to simply explain it; however, that can change by the time I get there.**

 **Xerzo LotCN: Sorry for misspelling your name, I didn't realize it was misspelt until I read your review. I fully admit that god like was the wrong way to describe what I meant. The reason why I'm hesitant on giving Natsu Lightning Devil Slayer magic is because I don't want to make him too OP. As he is now, Natsu already moves at speeds faster than what most people can perceive and I don't want to make him untouchable. That being said, I do like your suggestion of learning it after he joins the guild and trains with it over time. Also after putting some thought into it, I did come up with a way to introduce this new magic that would work for this story. I'm not confirming that he will learn it yet, but I am putting a lot of thought into it. You had some really good suggestions on how to handle Juvia being a water dragon slayer, one of which isn't too far off from what I have planned depending on how the poll go's. If you want to know what they are just send me a PM or just wait to see what I have planned, though the wait is going to be a long one.**

 **The Anonymous FanFic Author: I included Bisca because she is rarely paired up with Natsu and it's a pairing that I have been liking a lot lately. Mavis will be aged up when she officially joins the harem; though, I'm not sure if I'll keep her petite or make her a little curvier.**

 **Guest: it's because of what happened in the last chapter and what I have planned for future that Erza wasn't immediately included in the harem. That being said, things are going to be bit bumpy between her and Natsu for a while but it will all work out later on.**

 **That's it for reviews. Thank you to everyone who has read up to this point, as well everyone that has favorited, followed and left a review since the last chapter.**

 **As always, hopefully you enjoyed the chapter. Let me know how I did. If you have a question either leave a review and I'll answer it in the next AN or send me a PM and I'll respond as soon as I can.**

 **Till next time**

 **Mreh**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: A Day Off**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

There's something to be said about how tranquil the forest surrounding Magnolia can be at times. The sounds of the wind gently blowing through the trees and the chirps of various birds just painted the perfect image of serenity. It's because of reasons like these that Natsu chose to live out in nature instead of the town itself. Sure he loved how lively Magnolia is, but he couldn't imagine dealing with all that noise all the time.

Having just finished his most recent training session, the pinkette is heading back to his house. Ordinarily, Wendy would be walking back with him; however, after one of their training sessions, the two dragon slayers found two unusually large eggs and have decided to take a short break to take care of them. However; that didn't stop Natsu from keeping up with his own training which has almost always been a daily routine for him.

In truth, he was actually thankful for finding those eggs when they did. With the amount of progress that Wendy has been making in her training, he was actually looking for something to use an excuse to give her break and let her relax for a bit. If he had to guess, in about another year, she wouldn't be too far behind where he was at that age.

Reaching his recently renovated house, Natsu heads in to get cleaned up. Afterwards he heads to kitchen to make something for breakfast, something that wouldn't be as able to do without the help of a certain take over mage. While he is by no means an amazing cook, he is a pretty good at making a few things. It didn't take long for him to hear someone walking into the kitchen. Given the number of people that live in his house that have higher than average senses, it isn't surprising that one of them would head to kitchen at the first smell of food. "Hey Wendy" he says while still focusing on what he is making.

"Morning Natsu" the bluenette said while trying to wipe the sleep out her eyes. "What are you making?"

"Pancakes" he says while placing another pancake on top of a short stack that was sitting off to the side.

Just seeing a stack of what is quite possibly the best breakfast food causes the bluenette's eyes to widen in excitement. "Can I have some?" she asked in a hopeful tone.

"Of course" Natsu says while handing her the stack that he just finished making. "One stack of pancakes with extra chocolate chips." He finishes as he gets started on making more.

"Thanks Natsu" Wendy said happily, quickly rushing to table to devour the heavenly cakes of amazingness.

He couldn't help but chuckle at how excited the younger mage would at the mere mention of pancakes. Most of the time, she is as bad as he is with steak.

"Do I smell pancakes?" came another voice. Said voice belongs a cat with black and white fur, blue eyes, pointed ears, and strangely enough he is walking on two legs. The cat is wearing a yellow bandana, grey pants, and a black utility belt. Walking into the kitchen, the cat saw the very thing that it had smelled. "Yay pancakes!"

"Really, must you be so loud this early in the morning." Came another voice. This time another bipedal cat with white fur and brown eyes that came into the kitchen. This cat is wearing a pink top and skirt as well as a yellow tie.

These talking bipedal cats are Morgana and Carla. The two dragon slayers first found these two cats by when they found their eggs, which did cause some confusion. When the slayers found the eggs they assumed that because of their size that some large creature must have laid these rather large eggs. Admittedly, both of them were hoping that they had stumbled across dragon eggs. Imagine their surprise when instead of dragon or another large creature that would justify the size of the eggs, two small cats were hatched instead. Now, neither of the slayers would claim to be an expert on cats, but both of them were fairly certain that cats didn't come from eggs. This not only confused them, but everyone else in the guild. Given how interested and entertained everyone at the guild was when they first learned about the eggs, it seems almost a little anticlimactic, almost.

 **Flashback Start**

Having just finished training for the day the two dragon slayers are rushing to the guild show off something they had discovered. "Hey Gramps, can you tell us what kind of eggs these are?" Natsu said with both eggs in each of his hands. Wendy had tried to carry one of them but had trouble because the eggs were almost the same size as here and she couldn't see where she was walking.

"How peculiar, I've never seen eggs this big before" Makarov said as he looked at the eggs. Over the years he has seen many strange things as a guild master, though eggs this big would be a first. "I'm curious, where did you find these eggs?"

"In the forest near my house. They just fell out of tree I was about to destroy."

"Why were you about to destroy a tree?"

"Reasons, why?"

"Anyways, I'm sorry to say that I don't what kind of eggs these are." The master said while trying to move past the near tree destruction.

"Eh, oh well. We'll just find out whenever they hatch." Natsu said nonchalantly.

"Oh, I was hoping we could find out what kind of eggs these are." Wendy said, feeling a little sad that she would have to wait for who knows how long to get some answers.

"Sorry Wendy, but that's how it works. For life to truly flourish you must be patient and let life take all the time it needs." The old man says only to get confused from the younger of the two mages. "That means you just have to be patient."

"Oh" Wendy said now understanding what he was saying.

"So I can't just crack them open and hope for the best?" Natsu asked nonchalantly.

"Of course not you damn brat!"

"Natsu!" Erza yells as she approaches the group. "What are doing bringing those eggs into the guild hall?"

"Asking Gramps what kind of eggs these are. Didn't you hear us?"

"That's not what I meant. What I mean is why would you bring those eggs into guild, not knowing what they are? For all you know they could be extremely dangerous to everyone in the guild."

"Don't worry I'm sure it'll be fine."

"How can you be so certain? Are you really willing to put others at risk to sate your own curiosity?"

"Ok I see what you're saying. If whatever is in those eggs turn out to be dangerous, then I'll kick their new born asses just for you." Natsu said casually. Well, as casually as possible when talking about attacking infants. He knew what the knight was talking about and was simply trying to avoid any unnecessary risk that could potentially harm their guild mates. That being said, he couldn't pass up this opportunity to have some fun at Erza's expense. Mira would never forgive him for it.

"That's not what I mean and you know it!" Erza exclaimed, desperately trying to save face.

"Erza, why do you want Natsu to beat up some innocent babies?" Wendy asked with tears starting to pool in the corner of her eyes.

If everyone weren't already paying attention before, they were now. All of them quickly caught on to what was happening and not one of them wanted to step in to aid the knight. Sitting back and letting things play out is way more fun.

"I don't, I'm just saying that he shouldn't bring those eggs into the guild when we don't know how dangerous they are."

"So you want me to leave them somewhere where they can possibly be eaten by some hungry animals? How is that any better?"

"Again, that's not what I mean!"

"I must say I'm surprised Erza, I didn't think you would be cold to some unborn creatures." Makarov chimed in. While he sounded like he was disappointed in Erza, no one believes that he actually is. They all knew he found this just as amusing as they do.

"Not you too Master"

"Why do you hate babies Erza?" Wendy asked innocently.

"I don't, I'm just concerned for everyone's safety"

"Oh my god, this might be the best day ever!" Mira said, having just regained the ability to breath. She can't remember the last time she laughed this hard.

"Shut it!" Erza shouted. The last thing she needed was for that demon bitch adding to this. This whole thing is already bad enough thanks to Natsu and Makarov and she doesn't need her making it worse. Instead of the usual reaction of those two fighting, the Take Over mage once again started laughing at the redhead's misfortune. "Anyways, what if whatever laid those eggs comes looking for them?"

"Fine, I'll beat up their parents too if that'll make you happy."

"Stop making it seem like I'm asking you to do something terrible."

"Then stop asking me to do those terrible things."

"I'm not!"

 **Flashback End**

A couple days later, both of the eggs hatched and revealed both cats. While everyone was happy about the newest additions to the guild, some were upset. But that may have been because of the betting pool centered what would hatch from the eggs and no one placed a bet on cats.

Natsu tried to jokingly ask Erza if she wanted him to beat up these cats but was quickly cut off when she threatened to castrate him with a rusty sword. Any retort after that was quickly silenced after that. He got her back when Wendy innocently asked what castrate means and he told her to ask Erza. It's the little things that can cause the most fun.

"Give him a break Carla; you know how excited he and Wendy get whenever I make pancakes?" Natsu said, trying to defend the two.

"And you shouldn't encourage them acting so immaturely." Carla said as she glared at the pinkette.

"You and Morgana we're born a couple weeks ago and Wendy's five. I'm sure you three are allowed to be at least a little immature." Natsu said as he handed a stack of pancakes to the 'immature' cat.

"Thanks Natsu" Morgana said as he rushed to the table to cake his pancakes in butter and syrup.

"You're Welcome. Anyways Carla, there's nothing wrong with being a little immature every once in a while; especially when you're still young."

"Hmph" was Carla's only response as she took the plate of pancakes from the pinkette. The reason that she was dropping the subject was because she knew how long this argument could go and it wouldn't have the results that she wanted.

"Do you guys have to make so much noise?" Sayla grumbled as she walked into the kitchen. Immediately everyone notices that she looks like death warmed over which is pretty normal for the demon every morning.

After getting her guild mark, Natsu offered to let her stay at his house until she could find a place stay, which she quickly accepted. Considering that Sayla didn't have any other options besides the guild's infirmary, the pinkette's house was definitely the preferred option.

Wendy was excited when she first met Sayla, mostly because she was the first demon the younger dragon slayer met as well as all stories she heard from Natsu made her determine to meet a demon. Thankfully her first experience with one was with one of the friendlier demons the older dragon slayer knows.

Like with any new guild mate, everyone at the guild was just excited to have a new member. While not particularly fond of how often the guild would get "rowdy", the demon did find being a part of Fairy Tail enjoyable and found that she fit in surprisingly well. Not surprising anyone, Sayla quickly became friends with Levy because of their shared love of books. What was surprising, if only to a couple people, was that she got along with Mira surprisingly well.

Out of everyone at the guild, the only person Natsu was worried about meeting Sayla was Mira. While he doesn't know much about the Take Over mage's past; he was able to figure out that something bad had happened because of a demon. Thankfully, their introduction went much better than he expected; not that he was expecting anything to bad happen.

 **Flashback Start**

The party celebrating Sayla joining the guild has been going on for a couple hours. The party itself is at that point before the celebration turns into one of the guilds infamous all out brawls and everyone is enjoying the calm before the storm.

"So you're the new girl" Mira said as she approached Sayla and Natsu, who was telling the demon how fun the fights can get during the parties. "I'm Mira, it's good to meet you." She greeted the newest edition to their guild before gaining a serious expression. "Though, I got to say; I didn't expect that an actual demon would join the guild."

Immediately, Sayla was caught off guard having not expected to figure out what she is immediately upon meeting her. Natsu on the hand knew that something like this was going to happen. If Mira was able to figure out that he was a Devil Slayer just by being around him they it would the easiest thing to learn about Sayla.

"We just met, how did you figure out what I am?" Sayla asked curiously.

"Let's just say it's I know because of my magic." Mira replied before turning her attention towards the pinkette. "I just have one question. Do you trust her?" She knew of Natsu's history with demons and knew him well enough to know that he would never intentionally put anyone in the guild in danger.

"Of course" he answered.

"Good enough for me" Mira said while losing her serious expression. "Sorry if that came off as kind of bitchy Sayla, I don't exactly have the best history with demons."

"It's ok; I've heard plenty of stories where humans had suffered at the hands of other demons. I can't fault you for being at least a little cautious."

 **Flashback End**

Since then, those two have become surprisingly close; despite Mira jokingly telling Sayla that she's going to steal her soul.

"Long night?" Natsu asks as he hands her a plate of food. "Let me guess, you got carried away while reading again."

Silently thanking him for the food, she grabs the plate and trudges her way to the table. "Yeah, I wanted to finish the book I was reading and once I was done I couldn't go to sleep so I started reading another book. Five books later I finally fell asleep." Let it be known that Sayla isn't the type of person, or demon, that will leave a task unfished, especially a task as important and interesting as those books. . "That was three hours ago." She finishes, hoping that her breakfast will wake her up or make her want to go back to sleep. At the moment; the latter of the two being is the preferred option. At least these pancakes are good start for either option. The blueberries added to them are a nice touch.

"It's amazing how little self-control you have whenever it comes to books." Carla said condescendingly.

"When you say it like that, you make it seem like I read too much" Sayla replied, not in the mood for dealing with the judgmental cat this early in the morning.

"Obviously you do if can't choose between your books and some much needed rest."

"The only time I ever stay up all night reading is when decide not to go on a mission the next day. Even if a job does come up that requires my full attention, I am more than capable to carry it out with little issue. But if want to try to convince me that it's possible to read too much than go ahead, preferably some other time that's not today, or this week for that matter."

"Carla, what did I say about scolding us first thing in the morning?" Natsu asked plainly as he joined everyone at the table with own stack of pancakes. Like morgana, he chose to cover his pancakes with plenty of syrup and butter. This effectively stopped the white cat; it didn't stop her from giving him the stink eye, not that it bothered him.

"You have to admit that it's impressive that you were able to finish that many books in a single night." Morgana said to Sayla. He's seen just how big some of the books she reads are and barely believed that she was even able to finish one in a single night. Most people would need at least a couple weeks just to make it through a single one of the demon's books.

"Thank you Morgana." Sayla said happily.

"How did you read that many books in one night?" Wendy asked. The bluenette couldn't figure out how it was possible to pull of such a feat.

"Skill" was the demon's answer. While true, it's not entirely accurate to say that it was all her skill. She might have deliberately left out the part where she may or may not have been testing the Gale-Force Reading Glasses that she got from Levy the other day. That information isn't really that important at the moment.

 **At The Guild**

After eating their breakfast, both slayers and talking cats made their way to guild. Sayla decided to stay behind to get reacquainted with her bed and catch up on all the sleep she lost out on from the previous night.

Today is one of the calmer days in the guild where no one was fighting or being flung from one end of the building to the next. It wasn't even that noisy for the usually rambunctious guild. More than likely the reason it's so calm is because it's still early in the morning and no one is ready for the craziness that comes with the guild.

Upon entering, Wendy quickly runs off to hang out with the kids in their group with Carla and Morgana in tow. Natsu couldn't but laugh at how excited the bluenette would get whenever coming to guild. He understood why she would get way and couldn't fault her acting the way she does, but that doesn't stop him from getting a good laugh from time to time.

As we was about to join his group of friends, he notices Mira sitting by herself at one of the tables, picking at her food with her fork. Just by looking at her he could tell that something is bothering her.

"Hey, what's up Mira?" The pinkette asks as he approaches the Take-Over mage.

"Oh, hey Natsu" Mira said, not really paying attention to what the pinkette is saying.

"Are you ok?" Natsu asks, now starting to feel a little concerned. Seeing the Take-Over mage so out of it is just unsettling.

"Yeah I'm fine, why?"

"You seem like something is bothering you."

"Oh that; don't worry, I just have a lot on my mind"

"Anything you want to talk about?"

"It's nothing; Lisanna just went on her first solo job."

"Did she take one that was too tough for her?"

"Of course not, it's just a simple job gathering specific herbs in the forest just outside of town."

"Then you have nothing to worry about" Natsu said casually, hoping that he that he was able to reassure the Take Over mage. While he meant well, the pinkette's words didn't exactly have the desired effect. In an instant he was suddenly blasted across the guild. Seeing the pinkette get sent flying across the guild hall quickly caught everyone's attention, only for a couple seconds. After the dual slayer hit the ground all of them turned their attention back to what they were doing; no one wanted to get involved. Regardless of what the cause was, it surely isn't worth a potentially extended trip to the infirmary.

Stumbling back to table he was just at; Natsu realized something important, Mira's attacks are far more powerful when she's mad. Was that attack the strongest one he's ever been hit by? Not by a long shot. Did the attack hurt like hell? Of course it did. "Ow" the pinkette groaned.

"That's what you get; you ass" Mira said while glaring at her friend.

"I think you just fractured my kidney."

"Quit being a baby, we both know you've been through worse."

"What did I do?"

"You said something really stupid and you got what you deserved"

"All I said was that you have nothing to worry about. What's wrong with that?"

"You're just asking to get blasted across the guild again, aren't you." That was more of a threat than anything else. While she knew that the pinkette meant well that didn't excuse him from saying something so stupid. "Of course I everything to worry about! My baby sister just went on her first solo job. What if she comes across a dangerous animal it attacks her. Lisanna loves animals; she'd probably tried to be friends with it before the damn thing attacks her. What if some bandits come across her and kidnap her? They could sell her off before anyone." With every new hypothetical situation, Mira's anxiety and fear would get much worse. "I have to go! I need to make sure Lisanna is safe!" Now letting her fear get the better of her, Mira was about to rush out of the guild to make sure her sister was safe.

The only thing stopping was that hand that was holding onto her shoulder. Looking to see who was dumb enough to try to stop her, her eyes lock onto Natsu's.

"Calm down Mira" he said as calmly as possible. Right now the last thing he needed was to agitate her anymore.

"Either remove your hand or I will." her voice may have sounded calm but the warning was clear as day.

The pinkette calmly removed his hand, knowing that if he didn't it would lead to a fight that would be completely pointless and just make the situation far worse than it should be. "Mira, just hear me out. You know how good my sense of smell is. Because of that, I know where Lisanna is and if there is anything dangerous anywhere near her. " Hearing this at least caused the Take Over mage to calm down a little bit. "From what I can tell; Lisanna is perfectly safe and there isn't anything or anyone even remotely dangerous close to her."

Hearing this had the desired effect on Mira and calmed her down even more. She was still worried; but no more than she was earlier. "Thanks for that, I got a little carried away there for a moment." That was an understatement. If the pinkette hadn't said what he said when he said it; she would have bolted straight out of the guild to make sure her sister was safe. Mira couldn't help but feel disappointed in herself because of what she almost did. This was Lisanna's first solo job for her to complete on her own. Interfering in anyway would just show that she doesn't believe her little sister could do it on her own.

"Don't worry about it, I was just trying to help." He understood why the Take Over mage would react the way she did. Since coming to the guild, he has become really close with each of the Strauss siblings, Mira in particular. If he has learned anything about them since then, it's that they genuinely cared for each other. "I wonder; did you act the same way when Elfman went on his first solo job?"

"Of course I didn't." She lied. She was just as worried then as she is now. The only difference between then and now is that Mira didn't nearly rush out of the guild back then. Granted the only reason why she didn't was because Lisanna was with and she didn't want to freak her out. That and the oldest Strauss didn't want to embarrass herself in front of her little sister. "I knew Elfman wouldn't have a problem with that job."

If the flat look on Natsu's face was anything to go by, he didn't believe her for a second. Well, not the first part at least. "Yeah, I'm sure you didn't freak out." He said sarcastically, causing the Take Over mage to blush a little over being caught lying.

"Shut it!" Mira snapped back in attempt to save face. "I'm sure you'll be doing the same thing when Wendy starts going on jobs by self" she said in an attempt to turn this around on the pinkette.

"What are you talking about?" he said, falling for the diversion.

"Simple; since Wendy joined the guild, you two became really close. I'd say you two are as close as I am with Elfman and Lisanna." She isn't wrong. Both slayers have become close ever since they met. Usually wherever one of them was, the other wouldn't be far behind. Really the only they weren't hanging out with each other was when Natsu was on a job or on days like this when they were spending time with their friends in the guild. It even became a small running joke that the two slayers were long lost siblings. Even random people around Magnolia believed the two to be actual siblings.

"Huh, I never thought about that." Natsu said as he took on an inquisitive look. He knew exactly what Mira was try to do and is willing to just role with it for now. If it will help calm her down, he'll let this conversation go somewhere else. "Heh, I'm sure I'll be fine. I am training Wendy so I'm sure she'll be ready to take on whatever kind of job she takes when that time comes."

"Oh right, I'm sure you won't be worried at all." Mira replied sarcastically.

"Well if I freak out as much as you just did then you'll need Gramps to hold me back." This got a laugh out of both mages. "So, are you feeling better?"

"A little, I'm still worried but I trust Lisanna enough to be able to handle her job by herself."

"Well if it helps; from what I can tell, she's only a few miles from your house. If you're still nervous, we can head over to your place so if anything too dangerous does get to close to her, we can take care of it before it becomes a serious problem."

"Why would we have to go to my house?"

"Because Lisanna is just barely within range of my nose. If there is something too dangerous for her to handle by herself then I won't smell it until it gets to close. Plus it'll take less time to get to her from your house than the guild."

"I guess that'll be fine, hopefully we'll find to do to kill some time."

"I'm sure we will"

 **At The Strauss House**

It's been a few hours since both Mira and Natsu had left the guild to hang out at the former's house. To kill some time; Mira decided to show Natsu how to make a couple more dishes, figuring that everyone at his house is either getting tired of the few things that the pinkette knew how to make or at least getting close to. Her assumption isn't exactly spot on, but it never hurts to be able to make a couple more dishes.

Natsu, for his part, was happy learn how to cook a few more things. From what he's figured out from previous lessons, there are not many things Mira enjoys more than cooking. During every lesson, the Take Over mage would always have the most genuine smile that the pinkette has seen on her whenever she was preparing something. If most people saw the oldest sister with that smile on their face they would say that it would be out of place on her. It's not like he's never seen her smile before; it's just that usually when she's smiling when she's beating the shit out of someone or whenever she's talking crap to someone, but those were different than what she has now.

Seeing the smile on Mira's face as she was preparing and explaining the dish she was working on just showed how calm and in her element she is. He could tell that at this moment she's the most relaxed she's been all day.

"What are you staring at?" Mira asked as she caught Natsu staring at her.

"Sorry, I got distracted."

"Oh yeah, by what?"

"Your smile, it's really cute." Natsu said nonchalantly. He knew exactly what he was saying and had a feeling what kind of effect his words would have. Prior to coming to Fairy Tail, teasing someone by saying something like is something that he wouldn't have done. After becoming friends and spending quite a bit of time with Cana, teasing people became of his favorite things to do.

Hearing that, Mira's face was instantly covered in a fierce blush. "Shut it. If you're not going to take this seriously, I'm not going to show you how to make anything else." she said as she turned away from the pinkette, trying to hide her blush.

"Sorry, I couldn't help it." He said while chuckling, making the Take Over mage blush even more. "The only time I see you smiling like that is either when you hanging out with Lisanna and Elfman or when you're cooking something."

"I don't hear you complaining about that last one." Mira said as she turned back to keep doing what she was doing.

"I'm not dumb enough to do that."

"You sure about that?" She jokingly asked. "What can I say; I really enjoy cooking. It's one of those things that can always clear my mind."

He couldn't argue with that; on the occasions he's seen Mira cook, she always has a perfectly content look. Sometimes, she almost looked completely different person instead of the cocky, fight crazy, goth girl that he befriended months ago. "So, who taught you how to cook?"

"My mom; it was one of our favorite things to bond over. She would always walk me through it step by step. I would always get so excited whenever she let me help her in small way. Anytime I made a mess she just laugh and tease me for it while we cleaned it up. I almost lost my mind the first time she showed me how to bake. I'm sure at some point I drove Elfman crazy with everything I tried to make and had him taste test it. Especially with a few dishes I messed up."

"Let me guess, Lisanna was smart enough to hide." Natsu joked. He really did like seeing this side of Mira.

"She wishes, if Elfman had to suffer than she did to. But really, Lisanna always tried to be supportive. I'm trying to do the same thing for her now that she wants to learn how to cook."

"Explains why Elfman has been trying to take more solo jobs recently."

"He can try to run all he wants, he won't get away but he can try if it'll make him feel better."

"He'll get over it. He doesn't have much of a choice." He would have asked more about her past but he knew it was a touchy subject, one that Mira usually likes to avoid.

"Good point. Now pay attention, I don't want to have to explain this more than once." And with that they went back to what they were. Another hour later; this lesson was over and Natsu had learned how to make a couple more dishes. Now was time for his least favorite part of these lessons, cleaning the dishes. Part of the agreement for Mira giving him these lessons was that he had to clean all the dishes that were used. He also had to buy the food so that he wouldn't end up clearing out their fridge. Neither of these things was unfair in his opinion.

While cleaning, both mages were talking about the usual stuff: jobs, training, busting each other's chops. A short time later both mages were heading back to guild.

"Thanks Natsu, you really helped me calm down today."

"Don't worry about it; I was just trying to help a friend out."

"Hey Mira, Natsu" both mages turn to see who was yelling for them only to catch sight of Lisanna running towards them.

"Lisanna!" Mira yells back as she rushes to her sister. "How did your job go? Did everything go alright? Are you hurt?" she was asking questions as fast as she could of them while checking over sister to see if she is ok.

"Yeah everything went great" Lisanna said, not at all bothered by what her sister was doing. She saw her do the same thing to Elfman when he came back from his first solo job.

"That's great" Mira said once she was done with her impromptu check up

"Good job Lisanna" Natsu said.

"Thanks Natsu"

"Come on, let's go to the guild, I want to hear all about how your job went" the older sister went.

"You two go ahead; I have some errands I need to run." He lied. In truth he just wanted to give the sisters some space so that can have their family moment together.

"Ok, I'll tell you about my job next time then." Lisanna replied

"Sounds like a plan." He said as split off from the Strauss sisters; but not before seeing Mira mouthing the words "Thank you" before her and Lisanna made their way to the guild

Having nothing else to do, the pinkette decided to just go for a walk around the town. Even after months of being in Fairy Tail he never got tired of taking in the sights of Magnolia. Sure, it wasn't the biggest town he's been in but he just like the feeling of walking around, taking in sights of everything that's going on and taking in the smells coming from the restaurants and street vendors.

One thing he liked about taking a walk around Magnolia was that he always either found something to someone to kill time with. Apparently, today was no different. Walking out of bakery a block away from the pinkette is, unsurprisingly, Erza. Noticing that she hasn't noticed him yet, Natsu decides to have some fun as a devious grin makes itself known on his face.

Carefully sneaking up on the knight, he inhales as much oxygen as he can. "Hey Erza!" he yells.

Letting out an unusually girly scream as she jumps into air, she quickly turns to see who made the mistake of scaring her. Seeing the pinkette, who was struggling to not only breath but to stand as well, caused her to see red. "Natsu!" she yells as she requips her mace from her **Purgatory Armor** , ready to beat him to a bloody pulp.

Even though he could feel the bloodlust and killing intent coming from the redhead, he had trouble calming himself down from the obviously hilarious joke. He isn't worried though, at worst, Erza may just try to kick his ass. He's been through worse beatings when he did the same thing to a demon he trained with. "Sorry Erza, I couldn't pass that up. It was just too perfect."

As much as the knight would have liked to punish the slayer serious offense she knew that it was more trouble than it was worth and it likely wouldn't result in anything that would be worth the effort. That being said, beating the living hell out of pinkette really sounded like a truly great idea at the moment. "What are you doing here Natsu" she said as she requipped away her mace, still very much annoyed with him.

"Not much, I was just walking around before I saw you." He answered honestly, finally regaining the ability to breath.

"If that's the case, then I'll be on my way." The knight said tersely as she started to walk away, earning a sigh from the slayer. This was pretty much how the knight acted towards him most of the time since they went on that to capture Serov. She was either avoiding him or reprimanding him for something.

"So I take it you're still mad" he said as he started to walk besides the redhead.

"I don't know what you're talking about. What would I be at you for?" she said dismissively. Of course she was still upset. While Makarov did his best to explain everything, without showing that he condoned Natsu's actions, she couldn't help but feel disturbed by what she saw. Seeing him so callously rip off Serov's arm and shatters his other hand was something she couldn't get out of her mind. She could still remember the look in his eyes; it was look that showed absolutely no remorse towards the executioner. It was a look that showed just how much he wanted to end Serov's life.

"So you haven't been trying to avoid since we went on that job"

"It must be your imagination."

"Well, this is going nowhere" Natsu said as he picked Erza up and started walking towards a park that is nearby. With the way things were going he had to options; he could either let things continue as they are and hope things turn for the better or he could try to work it out now. If he was a more patient and less direct person he would've chosen the former.

"Natsu! What are you doing?! Put me down now!"

"Not until you agree to talk this out."

"Put me down now!"

"There's only one way that's going to happen" he said as he finally reached the park. During this time of day it's usually mostly empty with the exception of a few people here and there.

For as stubborn as Erza is, she had a tough choice to make. She knows Natsu is just as stubborn as she is, especially when his mind is set to something. She could either go along with what he wants and have a conversation she isn't too enthusiastic about or continue to be carried by the pinkette. It's a matter of what will win first, her stubbornness or her pride. "Fine, just put me down!"

Setting her down gently, he could see just how mad she is at that moment. Admittedly, he didn't go about this in the best way possible. "Why are you still angry about that job?" he asked bluntly. There really isn't an easy way talk about this so he figures it's best to get straight to the point. Thinking back on everything that has happened since they met, that job was the only thing that could have caused this kind of reaction.

"Why am I still angry?! You ripped a man's arm off, crushed his remaining hand, threaten to kill his followers and your plan nearly got an innocent person killed. And you still have to ask why I'm angry." She said as her voice kept getting louder and louder.

"Serov had already killed a couple people before we got there and he would have killed more if I didn't do what I did."

"And that justifies you ripping his arm off. I've seen how fast you are; you could have easily knocked him out."

"You're right, I could have. But I didn't. Seeing someone that has no respect for life and kills for fun like him set me off. Honestly, he's lucky that I went easy on him."

"Oh and that justifies your actions. Because he doesn't respect life; that gives you the right to do whatever you wish to him. And what about you? You've killed people to. How can you be mad at someone like Serov for his willingness to kill when you have killed some people moments after meeting them?"

Natsu was slightly shocked at this piece of information; he didn't expect Gramps to tell people about what happened when they met. It's not like the dual slayer wanted to keep it a secret, he just assumed that the older mage would prefer to not spread word of the pinkette's darker side unless there was a good reason for it. "Because unlike Serov I've never killed anyone that didn't it deserve. Everyone I've killed has killed a number of people themselves. Even then; I always give them a chance to walk away with their lives but they never take it seriously until it's too late. But the biggest difference is that I don't enjoy killing anyone. There's nothing I hate more than the pointless loss of life and those who enjoy it."

"Then how do you justify killing people especially when you find it so detestable?" Erza asked. Internally she's relieved to hear that Natsu doesn't enjoy killing. That being said; she couldn't rap her mind around what she's hearing. 'Why would you put yourself taking lives if you yourself can't stand such a thing?' she thought.

"Simple, I don't."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I don't try to justify killing anyone. I don't even know how to begin with something that ridiculous. Don't get me wrong I don't feel guilty for what I do, but I don't enjoy it."

"How? How do you not feel guilty?"

"Two reasons. The first being is that they all could have chosen something to walk away and live. Their deaths are the results of their choices and their mistakes. The second is that I was basically raised by dragons and demons; both are creatures that treat death and killing as a natural part of life."

The knight didn't know how to respond to that. Knowing that the slayer is basically the product of his surroundings did answer some of her questions; it also raised many more. From the stories she heard of both creatures, with the exceptions of the ones she heard from the pinkette, both of them were creatures that killed with little to no remorse. She's heard countless stories of demons killing people for no reason other than they could and if her history lessons told her anything about dragons; for the most part, they weren't much different. There lies the source of her confusion. Natsu has shown to be a kind and caring person at times, focused and determined at other times, and relentless and ruthless, in her opinion, at the worst of time. "I don't get it, what kind of person are you?"

There it is; the true source of her dilemma. In her albeit short life, she's only ever met one person that has shown such contradictory personality traits. And that one person is the source of some of her worst memories. She wants to have faith in Natsu and see him as a friend, especially since Makarov does and she respects her master more than anyone she knows. But she can't stop herself from feeling the way she does. She can't help but keep her guard up around the pinkette.

"I'm not going to lie. I'm someone who does terrible things for selfish reasons all with good intentions in mind. But you know what they say the road to hell is paved with." The slayer said calmly, sounding more mature than someone his age should. Since coming to Fairy Tail, Gramps has tried on a few occasions to convince him to stop killing people; to instead set them down different path and possibly turn them into a friend. He could understand this reasoning and respects it and he's even willingly to give it a try. But he hasn't met anyone that he could have helped in that way. Things were never that easy for him. "When Igneel was first teaching me how to kill, he made sure that I knew two things. How beautiful life is, and that if I ever started killing people because I can than I'll lose my right to call myself his son." He said in the hopes that it'll make the redhead feel better.

"He threatened to disown you?"

"Kind of. In dragon culture, for a parent to disown their child is a death sentence. For a dragon to disown their child, the child must have done something truly terrible. Igneel is one of the dragons that fought to protect humans and wanted me to do the same. He gave me that warning to make sure to I wouldn't go against what he trained me to do."

"If he's willing to go to that extreme, than why teach you to kill in the first place."

"In one way or another, we're all hypocrites. While he hates killing he sees it as a necessity at times. He asked me once if I had a choice between killing someone to save someone else or letting someone die and stopping the killer without killing them, which would I chose. It was a question without a right answer because no matter the choice, someone died. Like my father, I will always choose the former."

Erza couldn't help but ask herself that very question. She had to agree that there isn't right answer. On hand choosing the former meant that she would have to cross a line that she didn't know if she could. On the other hand, if she chose the latter, than she would be responsible for someone being killed, not directly but she would still feel responsible for not doing something because she couldn't cross a line.

"You wanted to know what kind of person I am." Natsu said as he looks Erza straight in the eye. "Well that's simple. I'm someone who enjoys good friends, good food, good fights, and bad jokes. I'm also someone that will get my hands dirty whenever I have to if it means protecting people."

Erza felt strangely relieved at this information. On one hand she isn't happy that Natsu would still kill people in the future; however, by the way he said what he said she's confident enough to believe that he won't let this darker side of his personality consume him. She finally understands what Makarov meant when he said that the pinkette is someone that can walk the line between light and dark. "Thank you Natsu, this conversation has proven to be very helpful." Swallowing her pride like that was a tough thing for her to do, but it isn't impossible when it's necessary. "And I apologize for the way I treated you since we went on that job."

"It's ok Erza; I'm not going to blame you for feeling what you did. I know that not everyone approves of the more terrible things that I do."

"I'm glad that we can move past this then." Erza said honestly. Is she completely over this whole thing? No; of course not, in her mind she will never see killing as a good thing. That being said, her relationship with the pinkette is much better than it was this morning. It'll take time for things to be a hundred percent again but at least they aren't still in an uneasy place.

"What do you say we head back to guild?"

"That sounds like a good idea" the knight said as the two mages made their way back to the guild hall. "Just so you know, I'm still going to punish you for picking me up like you did earlier."

"What? Can't we just move past that?"

"Of course not, you picked me up without my permission. You're lucky that I didn't beat you within an inch of your life then and there."

"Fine, I'll admit that I deserve it." Natsu said before a mischievous grin appeared on his face. "Doesn't mean I won't run like hell though!" he yelled as he started running away from the redhead while laughing at the situation he's currently in.

"Natsu! Get back her and take your punishment like a man!" Erza yelled as she pursued the pinkette. While she would never admit it, the knight is enjoying the chase just as much as the slayer is.

 **Later That Night**

It's been a few couple hours since the last guild member has left for the night with the exception of Makarov. The old man is in a rather good since he has finished his paperwork much earlier than usual, he didn't have to write as many apology letters for his guild's actions as usually does, and he has a cold beer to enjoy in the unusually quiet guild hall.

"Master, may I have a word?" a young boy asks. Said boy is wearing a black long sleeved shirt, white pants, a dark blue bandana covering his head, and a green bandana covering his face. Additionally, he also has a couple magical staves on his back that are being held in place by a green strap.

"Of course Mystogan" the old man said as he turned to face the most reclusive member of the guild. Over the years, Makarov has made it habit to drop what he is doing to talk to or help his guild members. That being said, he couldn't help but be curious, and slightly concerned, with what the boy in front of him needs to talk about. In the short time the child has been in the guild, he mostly only talks to the master when he needs a job approved or when it involves a more "serious" development in a personal matter. Given the time of day, Makarov could only guess that this concerns the latter. "What is it that you would like to talk about?"

"It's about that matter I have told you about." the younger mage says, confirming the old man's worries. "There have been some unusual developments recently."

"What do you mean by unusual development?" the master asks, not liking how this sounds

"Recently I have been getting irregular readings that have been indicating erratic power fluctuations in the ehternano in various locations. Under normal circumstances, these results in the disappearances of towns we've discussed. However; only a little more than half those occurrences have resulted in the usual abductions we've discussed."

"Ordinarily I would assume that is a good thing; however, I have a suspicion that tells me otherwise. "

"Your suspicion would be correct. Instead of what usually occurs is replaced by inconsistent abductions. Sometimes only the population of a town would disappear while leaving the buildings unscathed while others would result in with large portions of the towns being destroyed."

"In those cases, are there any survivors or at least some witnesses?"

"Not that I've found, unfortunately."

Makarov could only let out a deep sigh at what he has learned. While he assumed that he wasn't going to like what he was going to hear, he didn't think it would be this bad. He's going to need a stronger drink. "Do you have an idea of what is causing this?" he asked, hoping for some good news.

"Unfortunately not" Mystogan replied, not liking that he didn't know what is causing these events to happen or why these cases are so different from the ones he's dealt with before. "That's what I came here for, to ask for some help."

"Just tell me what you need and I'll do what I can." The master replied, this situation was already a serious one to begin with and if the young mage in front of him is asking for help than this ordeal must be worse than he believes.

"Do you know any strong mages that know how to be discreet and are willing to get their hands dirty should the need arise?"

"It just so happens that we have couple mages in the guild that fit those criteria."

 **There it is, yet another chapter done. Sorry the long wait but life just kept getting in the way and I've either had no time and/or energy to write. Still, I'm sorry about the long delay and unfortunately I can't promise the same thing won't with future chapters. Recently I just started a new job and that takes up a lot of my time. I'll update when I can and hopefully I'll be able to update at least once a month.**

 **Before I go any further with this AN there's something that I need to talk about that I just noticed. HOLY SHIT, what happened? 347 followers, 266 Favorites, and 14,658 views. Those numbers are insane. Thank you to every one of you, all of you are awesome.**

 **This was kind of a slower chapter but it was a really fun one to write a chapter where the characters can just be characters. Let me know how I did for future chapters like this so I can improve where ever you felt was weaker. Anyways a lot happened in this chapter and going by what happened at the end I can guarantee everyone can guess what the next chapter will be about. I can't wait to get to work on the next chapter because it's where you'll see one of the bigger changes in this story and it's one that I've been planning for a while.**

 **Now let's talk about the talking bipedal cat in the room. Yes, I did replace Happy with an exceed that's basically Morgana from Persona 5 except he's slightly less narcissistic and has a proportionally sized head compared to other exceeds. For those curious there are a few reasons for this decision. First one is that Happy is a character that, for the most part, I find really annoying. Besides flying Natsu around when necessary, all there is too Happy is some comedic relief that I don't always find that funny. Replacing him with Morgana was an easy decision that gives me a lot options for future chapters. And the main reason for this change is because I've been playing a lot of Persona 5 lately, first time playing one of the games in this franchise, and I couldn't help myself.**

 **Now onto the results of the poll on whether Juvia should be a Water Dragon Slayer or not. And the results are in; Juvia will be one which as a result means she will now play a bigger role in the story. Thankfully not too much is none of her backstory so it will be pretty easy to work in.**

 **Onto Harem news, like always, if you're not interested in this part then go ahead and skip this part. As it is now the current final list for the harem is: Mira, Ultear, Salya, OC, Cana, Erza, Kagura, Yukino, Mavis, Hisui, Irene, and Dimaria and Brandish. I saw that enough people were asking for me include all of the Alvarez girls so I hope everyone's happy with it. Anyways there's the full list. This list may change, for a few reasons in the future. I may add a girl or two if I feel like there's a good reason to do so. I have considered adding Juvia, Meredy, and Lisanna but I'm still on the fence for now. But for now the current harem is what it will be for the future of this fic.**

 **Onto the reviews**

 **Xerzo LotCN: As a heads up, don't expect anything "pleasant" to happen to anyone involved in with Tartaros. The part where Sayla hiding her being a demon is something that I set up in case I want to use it to tease a later chapter. Also keep in mind people in the FT universe are generally terrified of demons, even to irrational degrees. Just look at what happened to Mira with her old village. Oh and you have a lot of awesome ideas for different magics for Natsu to potentially learn. I may or may not have a way to introduce a couple of them in an unexpected way.**

 **SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan: Thank you so much for your review. I've been getting concerned that I've started following along the same formula other OP Natsu stories fall into. That's something that I wanted to avoid and I will be putting more effort into future chapters to make sure that doesn't happen. I have plenty of characters already planned that will be more than a match for Natsu and those fights won't be a complete one sided stomp. There will still be some characters that won't stand a chance against Natsu, but I'll try to space them out a little more than I have been or just have them fight someone else.**

 **That's it for the reviews. Thank you to everyone that has read up to this point and to everyone that has favorite, followed, and reviewed up to this point.**

 **So what did all of you think of this chapter, loved it, hated it, think it has some issues, did it make you want to get some pancakes. Let me know, I'm open to any kind of feedback**

 **Like always, if you have a question you can leave a review and I'll answer it in the next AN or just send me a PM and I'll answer it as soon as possible.**

 **Anyways, I'm going to get some pancakes**

 **Till next time**

 **Mreh**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Edolas or Bust**

 **I don't own Fairy Tail**

Magic is a peculiar thing. It's an intangible thing that gives various creatures the ability to pull of various feats. For some, magic us a part of everyday that almost seems as natural as the air they breathe. For others, it's an increasingly rare resource that requires special tools to harness. As with any rare resource, some people will go to great lengths to ensure that they possess as much of it as possible, regardless of the harm that may cause others.

In a cavern in an unknown location are two individuals. The two individuals are looking at a floating ball of energy that ls surrounded by multiple statues that all appear to be praising it. "Tell me Byro, how is the Anima operating?" asks one of the individuals. This individual is a tall bipedal cat with black and white fur and a scar going across his left eye. His outfit consists of a green pants and silver armor chest piece and bracers. This person is Panther Lily, the first division commander of the king's royal army.

Byro is a short elderly man with a bald head with the exception of two spots of hair that look like horns. "At the moment, it is far too difficult to tell. We are still experiencing some malfunctions; however, I should be able to make the necessary repairs before another malfunction" he says while not taking his eyes off the tablet in his hand.

Lily couldn't help but release a sigh of disappointment at this piece of news. He's seen what the results of these 'malfunctions' were and didn't like that such a device could continue to exist after what he's seen. The head of the royal guard remembers what he found after being sent to investigate an unusual report. Well, it was more accurate to say what he didn't find. Instead of an island he found what remains of an island. The only thing left were some of the rocks that made of the island and some remains of a few buildings. "Wouldn't it be better to perform these repairs with the device off?"

"The king has ordered that under no circumstance is the device to be turned off."

"Surely that cannot be wise."

"It does not matter whether it is wise or not. If our king's wishes for the Anima to stay on then so be it."

"But what about all the innocent lives that are at stake?!" Panther Lily says, his voice getting louder as he becomes more frustrated.

"What of them?" came another voice, catching the attention of both men. Turning to where the voice came from, both of them kneeled before it. The source of the voice was another elderly man with long gray hair and an equally long grey beard. He's wearing a regal rend and brown outfit. This person is the king of Edolas, Faust. "So what if we lose a few people. All that matters is that we gather all the ethernano from Earthland."

"But your majesty, the people…" Lily tries to plead

"Will do what they are supposed to do. They will continue to be ignorant of the truth and believe the lies that we are feeding them. If we must sacrifice a few useless people so that can maintain our way of life and not be taken over by those blasted exceeds then so be it." Faust said, effectively cutting Lily off in the process.

Much to his displeasure, Panther Lily relented. He knows the king well enough to know how pointless it is to talk to him when his mind is set on something. If Faust believed that someone or something was a threat to his status as a king, then that threat would be eliminated as soon as possible. The division commander was better off seeking another way to shut down the Anima.

"How is the Anima operating?" Faust asks as he turns his attention to Byro. "I assume that you are making progress."

"Of course your Majesty. The Anima is still operational and the repairs are underway as we speak. All I need is the necessary time for said repairs."

"As long as you don't take too long, you'll get all the time you need." Faust says as he turns to walk away but not before turning to his division commander. "Don't forget Panther Lily, the only reason you have reached your position is because of my gratitude for what you've done in the past. However; recently you are giving me reason to question your loyalty. Tread carefully less you wish to be disposed of like everyone else who gave me reason to question their loyalty." He says, making his way to leave the cavern.

Panther Lily glared at the king's departing figure. While he was grateful for everything that the king has done for him, he couldn't stand how power hungry the king has become. While the king has always been power hungry to an extent, the lengths he's going to now was terrifying at best. Turning to look at the malfunctioning machine, he couldn't help but loathe the wretched thing. Ever since it was discovered that Edolas was losing its magic, the king has become desperate to find a solution to this serious problem. Over time, that desperation turned fanatic. Not for the potential salvation of his kingdom but the power he hopes to gain. It's a well-known fact that amongst the higher ups of the palace that king has an intense hatred for the exceeds and their ability to freely use magic without the aid of any kind of magical device to aid them. The king always fears that the exceeds will one day enslave them all. That's why he wanted the power, to wipeout the exceeds and prove his own superiority.

Hearing a chuckle, the exceed turned his attention to glare at the only other inhabitant of the cavern. "It seems the king is starting to question your loyalty. You should be careful; we are both familiar with what how severe he is with those whose loyalty is in question." Byro warned, though he knew that his exceed companion knew his warning was anything but. In all honesty Byro loved this situation. Out of all of the King's advisors Lily was the only one that would speak out against him and openly disagree with the king. Byro has always been a loyal follower of Faust, always eager to give him whatever he wants despite the cost. He finds the exceed's presence to one of the most annoying things that he has to endure for any period of time. Seeing the king threaten the annoying exceed brought him a lot of enjoyment.

"Hurry up and get to work on the Anima before King Faust starts questioning your loyalty" Lily replied, the contempt in his voice was clear as day. Byro couldn't help laughing at the exceed's misfortune.

 **In Earthland**

"When is this guy going to get here?" Natsu asks as he is relaxing against a tree.

"According to Master, he should be showing up anytime now." Sayla answers, reading a book while sitting against her pink haired companion.

"Let's hope he shows up soon, all this waiting is getting boring." Morgana says from his resting spot on Natsu's head.

Earlier that morning the Makarov had told Natsu and Sayla that another member of the guild was in need of help with his mission and that both of them were to lend their aid. Neither of the mages denied helping out a guild mate, but they had to wonder. If Makarov was sending the both of them to help, how bad was the situation. The old master even told them that they had his permission to whatever they deem necessary to survive, further proving just how dangerous this mission is.

Leaving almost immediately after Makarov informed them of the job, both mages, plus Morgana who usually tags along with Natsu on his jobs, are waiting in a field a few miles away from a town whose name they didn't bother to learn. Neither mages were given a specific time to meet up with their guild mate; they were just told where to go.

"How much longer do you think we'll have to wait?" Natsu asks as he looks at the sun. If he had to guess, they've probably waiting for at least a couple hours.

"Not much longer." Another voice said, catching the attention of the waiting mages. "You must be the mages the Master was telling me about. I apologize for making you three wait so long; it took me quite some time to get here." The voice said as he emerged from the tree line.

"Don't worry about." Natsu said casually. While he appears calm on the outside, internally he was having trouble hiding his shock. The pinkette prided himself on how fine-tuned his senses are. He could easily track everyone within miles around him with his sense of smell alone. Yet the newcomer managed to get within twenty feet of him without the dual slayer knowing it. Whoever this guy is, he's a very talented mage to say the least. "Are you Mystogan?" he asks as he stands up to face the stealthy mage.

"Yes, I am"

"So what's this job you need help with? Master didn't give us any details on what we are helping you with." Sayla asked

"Before we discuss the dangerous nature of the mission, I must ask. Are you three willing to get your hands dirty?"

"Don't worry, Sayla and I have no problem with that kind of stuff." Natsu answers

"Even if it involves killing people?" Mystogan ask; his voice sounding for more serious just to make sure the mages before him knew what they were getting into.

"It wouldn't be the first time for either of us." Sayla responds

"And the cat?" The stealthy mage asks, getting both mages to look at Morgana

"What are the odds that things will go that way?" Natsu asks, trying to think of what would be the best way to answer.

"Almost guaranteed"

The pinkette had to think for a moment. For him and Sayla, killing wasn't a big deal. But for their little fury friend, he has never been exposed to that kind of stuff. There's no way for either of them to know how he'll react. Additionally; given how dangerous this job seems to be, he had to question if it was smart to bring his cat friend. Morgana was born only a couple weeks ago, if things got dicey he didn't have the strength and speed to run away and hide. And if the other three mages had to watch out for the cat and protect him, that'll make the mission even more risky. "Morgana, it might be a good idea for you to go home."

"But Natsu…" Morgana began to say sadly. The black and white cate always tried to go with the pinkette on every job he took. He knew he couldn't accompany Natsu on his more dangerous jobs. Doesn't mean he still didn't try.

"Sorry Morgana, I'll make it up to you next time" Natsu says before turning to Mystogan. "Do we have enough time for me to take Morgana back to town so he can catch a train back to Magnolia?"

"We have some time to spare for now. Though, I would like to make this quick if at all possible. We may need to leave in hurry at any given moment"

"Good, then you can explain what it is that you need our help with." Sayla says as the group started to make their way back to the town they were at earlier.

As they were walking, Mystogan explains that he needs their help finding the source of some portals that are opening up across Fiore and destroy it. While the newest member of the group was explaining this; both Natsu and Sayla couldn't help but notice that he knew more than he was letting on. From what they could tell the mysterious mage at the very least knew what the source of these portals is. He also didn't mention what these portals were doing in the first place.

However; neither mage had the opportunity to question these things as they both start to notice the weather changing almost instantly from a clear sunny day to storm clouds covering the skies as they drew closer to the town.

"Everyone stop! Now!" Mystogan shouts as a sudden flash of light blinds the group, right before they enter the town.

A few second pass before the light fades revealing the shocking state of the town they were not even a few hours ago. What was once a lively town now stood nothing. Every single building, person, kiosk, and tree was gone. All that remained was a dirt patch in place of where the town was.

The mages couldn't believe what they were seeing. Most of them have never seen anything like this before. To see an entire town before them literally disappear in a flash of light left them speechless. However; one of them was shocked for a completely different reason. Instead of staring at the town in shock, he was instead looking at the sky. "It's gone, the portal's already gone." He mutters, gaining the attention of the other mages

"What do you "It's gone"? What the hell was that?!" Natsu shouts, demanding an answer. Even with all the powerful creatures that he has met and seen what kind of powerful attacks they were capable of, he's never seen anything that could completely wipe out a town in an instant without leaving a trace of anything.

"That is the result of the portals I was telling you about. They are the main reason why you have never seen me at the guild. I'm constantly travelling around the country to close them before something like this happens." Mystogan explains, still not taking his sight off the sky.

"Then why the hell didn't you shut this one down?!" Natsu shouts again, getting the stealthy mage's face.

"Something's wrong with these portals. Ordinarily; I am able to sense them before they open, giving me enough time to close them before anything like this happens. This time, I didn't sense anything until the absolutely last second." Mystogan explains as he takes a few couple steps away from Natsu to give himself some space. "On every other occasion there was always a residual portal leftover that would stay open for a minute or two."

"Natsu, calm down. We can't learn anything if you don't give him a chance to talk." Sayla said calmly, effectively silencing the pinkette. "Let's start from the beginning. What purpose do these portals serve and where do they go?" She asks the cloaked mage. While the demon seems calm and collected externally; internally, she wants answers just as much as Natsu. She's read and heard about various magics that are powerful enough to wipe out entire cities of the face of the map. Sayla has even heard stories of other demons, more specifically other etherious, which are capable of such feats. But to wipe out an entire town without a single trace of said town or the slightest trace of residual ethernano is completely unheard of to her.

Mystogan couldn't help sighing at the situation. He had every intention to explain the situation to his guild mates. Unfortunately; with having only just met them, he hasn't had the time to truly explain anything yet. Once more how could he explain the situation given how outlandish it is? What reason would they have to believe him? Looking towards where the town once was, he realizes that they have no choice but believe what he says. How terrible that this is the proof he needs. "Those portals are designed to harvest the ethernano from this world to use as a power source. The portals specifically target locations with higher concentrations ethernano."

"Then why target that town? From what I could tell there weren't any mages there to begin with. Wouldn't it make more sense to target somewhere like Magnolia or Era" Natsu ask.

"You're correct. That town was fairly unremarkable in terms of magical energy. Without the presence of a guild that town should not have been targeted in the first place."

"Then what was the point of targeting it?"

"I'm not entirely sure. I have a theory that the machine creating these portals may be malfunctioning. It's the most reasonable theory I could come up with that has the most potential for being true. Recently the locations where the portals have been opening seem almost completely random. This isn't the first time I've come across portals that have opened above locations that are completely devoid anything worth targeting." Mystogan says as he looks back at what used to be a town. "Nor is it the first time I've seen it target a town like this."

"How many towns have towns have you seen end up like this one?" Natsu ask as his eyes start to gain a goldish tint to them.

"Too many. This is why I asked for help; to make sure that no one else shares the same fate as those unfortunate souls." He replies, noticing the pinkette's eyes lose their golden hue.

"You still haven't answered the other half of my question." Sayla says, trying to keep this conversation on track. "Where do those portals go?"

Sighing once again the cloaked mage tries to ready him for the tough part of the explanation. "Would you three believe me if I said that those portals lead to an alternate dimension that runs parallel to this one?" he says plainly, getting blank stares in return.

A few seconds pass before countless thoughts start running through their minds. The idea that another dimension is harvesting magical energy from their world seemed completely absurd to put it lightly. But given what they seen, it was a possibility. It had to be. If this was the work of another mage then they would have at least sensed some form of magical energy prior to the town disappearing.

Natsu was the first to regain his composure from the bomb that was just dropped on them. He could tell that the stealthy mage was telling the truth. The dual slayer could hear that his guild mate's heart rate kept beating at the same rate as when they met. Additionally the look in the reclusive mage's eyes told him that there was nothing dishonest about what he was saying. "Are you serious?" he asks, only to get a nod of confirmation in response. "So another world is stealing our magic." Natsu loosely parroted what he's heard so far. "How the hell is something like that possible?!" he nearly yelled.

"I do not know the specifics myself. Something of such scale is too far beyond my comprehension to understand." The very idea of this plan is absolutely ridiculous to Mystogan. For starters, there was issue with the energy source that is being stolen. Magic is by no means a tangible object with a specific set of rules to follow. Everything he's learned about the magic of both worlds has told him that they were completely different. In Earthland, magic is a naturally occurring thing that most creatures could freely use. It's a naturally occurring source of energy with seemingly no limits in how it can be utilized. In Edolas, on the other hand, the only creatures capable of naturally using magic were the Exceeds. The only way for humans to use it was with the aid of specifically designed tools that require magic to act as a power source to carry out a specific task. Additionally, the energy that magic provided usually didn't last long. Most of the time, the magical energy would only last long enough to carry out a task or two before depleting. The biggest problem he has is with the morale dilemma. Is it right to steal energy from a world to potentially save another? Would it be right to force an end to the way of life that the people of that world have known so that another can maintain their own? No matter how much he thought of those questions, a clear answer never came to mind. "The King of Edolas, the man orchestrating all of this, has gone to great lengths to ensure the success of this project."

"Why would he do such a thing?" Sayla ask, still trying to comprehend everything she's heard so far. Never before has she heard a story as crazy as this.

"Most believe he is doing this for the salvation of Edolas. Over the years, Edolas has been showing more signs that it is losing its magic. With that in mind it's not unreasonable that the king is doing everything he can to stop this from happening."

"I sense a "but" coming up."

"You would be correct with that assumption. The king is a power hungry fool. I believe that his true intentions are to take the magic he is harvesting from this world to horde for himself. Giving himself absolute authority throughout all of Edolas"

"How do you know this" Sayla asked, narrowing her sight on the stealthy mage. "You know far too much on the subject to be an ordinary mage."

"That would be because I am from Edolas" he answers, hoping that the brunette wouldn't ask anything else on that specific line of questioning. Unfortunately his luck isn't that good.

"While I believe you are not lying about being from that world, it seems like there is more to it than you are letting on."

"I was really hoping you wouldn't ask something like that. The reason why I know is because the king is my…" Mystogan was about to answer before he suddenly staring off in the distance. He could feel it. Another portal was opening. Given where they are, the mages could make it in time in a few hours if they're fast enough. "Quick we must go! Now! Another portal is opening." He yells as he starts running in the direction of the portal.

"Another portal is opening already?!" Natsu ask as himself, Sayla and Morgana start running to keep up with Mystogan. Well, Morgana was flying, but he was still keeping up with them.

"I'm just as surprised as you are. I've never felt a portal open up so soon after another one closes."

"I hope you know that I still expect an answer." Sayla says as she kept pace with the others.

"And you'll get one later. But for now we must hurry."

As the mages start to move to their next destination, Natsu notices that Morgana isn't following them. The young cat was instead just staring at where the town used to be. Then it hit him, the pinkette just realized that his friend was in shock of what he had just witnessed. Morgana is still technically a new born, meaning he has never faced what was essentially a potential near death situation. If it wasn't for Mystogan yelling at them to stop when he did than Morgana very easily could have been caught up in that portal along with the rest of the town

"They're gone," Morgana mutters, having finally regained the ability to speak. He could have died. Barely two weeks old and the young cat just narrowly escaped death.

Natsu couldn't help but feel bad for the cat. Thanks to his training, he has experienced plenty of near death situations where one mistake could prove to be fatal. He knew how difficult the first one is to process and how much it can affect someone. Scooping up Morgana, Natsu hugs him in attempt to try to comfort the young cat. "Don't worry Morgana; we're going to make this right." It may not have been the best thing to say, but it was still something. Unfortunately, the pinkette didn't have to time to properly help his friend through the situation. They're on a deadline and the more time they waste, the more likely more people will die as a result. Holding the cat close to him; Natsu turns and starts running to catch up with the rest of his team.

 **Edolas**

"Byro! What is the meaning of this?!" King Faust shouts angrily from his throne to his throne towards his chief of staff. "You told me that you would have fixed the Anima days ago and in that time we still continue to lose parts of our territories."

"Please your majesty; these repairs are not a simple matter." Byro began to plea. He's always been a person that would do whatever it takes to give the king what he wants. But this was a different matter. The repairs needed to fix the Anima were far more complex than he initially thought. It wasn't until shortly after he started the repairs that he realized that he overestimated how long it would take. And it wasn't until this moment that it's now coming back to bite him. "The Anima is a complicated device, getting everything to function the way it's supposed to is proving to be more challenging than I originally anticipated. I said that if you were to give me enough time that I was confident that I could resolve these issues."

"I've given you the time to make the repairs and all you have given me in return are these poor excuses!"

"Please sir, a few days is not enough ti…"

"Enough! Either get me the results I want or I'll find someone else that will." Faust bellowed out, cutting Byro off in the process. "Now be gone, you have much work to get done and very short deadline that's coming up."

"Yes, your majesty" Byro said as he made his way to leave the throne room. He knew better than to speak anymore on the topic. Doing so would do nothing but earn him a public execution. If he wanted to continue to serve Faust then he would need results and he would need them soon.

Faust was furious with this turn of events. The Anima is still malfunctioning; he's still losing territories as a result, not that he cares to much about those regions, and worst of all the power he was ensured is now questionable at best thus putting his status in jeopardy. Now he has to question the loyalty of all those around him. Multiple members of his staff were now suggesting that he should put the Anima project on hold. A few short years ago, the King would not have hesitated to have all of them executed for suggesting such an audacious idea. But for now he needed the resources. He could have taken them forcefully but that would lead to too many problems. No, having them give him their resources willingly made things easy enough to justify listening to their inane prattle.

"King Faust, may I have a word?" Panther Lily said as he entered the throne room. The Exceed commander was taking a big risk with his timing. He knew very well that Faust was just yelling at Byro for his supposed incompetence. Knowing that the King is still furious made this more challenging. If he worded his request the wrong way it could lead to his execution.

"Panther Lily, if this has anything to do with the Anima then my answer is already no." Faust said as he glared at the Exceed. Out of everyone on his staff, none was more opposed to the use of the Anima more so than Lily. If it wasn't for the loyalty his army has towards the exceed than the king would have had him publicly dismissed ages ago.

"Please reconsider your majesty. Thanks to the Anima we are losing more people by the day. At this rate we are in danger of losing the kingdom."

"Enough with this nonsense! Who cares if we lose a few settlements if it means that we can maintain the kingdom's power?!" The king bellows out. "If you're going to anyone's time with these pointless demands than do so with someone that actually cares. Now, do you have something useful to report?"

"I do not your majesty." Panther Lily said while doing everything he could to not show his discontent.

"Then leave at once" The king says.

The exceed knew well enough to know that what Faust said was more of an order than anything else. Leaving the throne room, Lily is in deep thought about what to do next. With how the situation is developing, one wrong move could lead to disastrous results.

"I'm guessing that didn't go well." A voice said, catching the attention of the division commander.

Turning to see who was speaking to him, the exceed saw one of his more loyal commanders, Dalton approaching him. If there was anyone that Lily wanted by his side in a rough situation it was this soldier. Throughout the years, the two have seen countless battles that have led the two to experience more close calls than either cared to count. Each time resulted in the two soldiers saving each other's asses. "No, It didn't," Panther Lily replied as he continued walking through palace halls.

"Great. You'd think that a king would actually give a damn about what's happening to his people." Dalton said casually as he kept pace alongside his superior officer. "So what's the plan?"

"For now, get the men ready." Lily said vaguely.

"For what?" Dalton asked, he could need to prepare them for any number of things.

"For now, nothing. But if Byro is incapable of repairing the Anima soon then we'll be taking care of it ourselves."

"Commander Panther Lily" another voice as it approaches the two soldiers.

Both soldiers turn to one of their subordinates running towards them. The soldier they knew as Jackson is one of those soldiers that they saw as a necessary evil that they had to put up with. Shortly after Jackson joined their division, the two soldiers learned that he is a spy that fed information of their actions to other higher ups within the kingdom, likely to be used as black mail against the exceed commander. The only reason why they haven't disposed of this spy is because while he is quite adept at being discreet, the spy was quite useless when it came to checking to see if the information he gathers is in fact true. Lily and Dalton kept the inept spy around mostly as a form of payback towards the other higher ups within the kingdom. Both soldiers found much amusement at the frustration of the other higher ups and nobles that had to silently seethe in frustration quietly.

"What is it Jackson?" Lily questioned tersely as he gave the soldier a look that intimidated the spy.

Jackson was all too familiar with that kind of response. Whenever the exceed had that look on his face, he was in bad mood and it would better to be near him as little as possible. "Sir, I've come to report that the island of Baracour has vanished"

"Damnit," Lily couldn't hold back a scowl. Islands disappearing were becoming an increasingly more common thing. The citizens were taking note and were demanding that the kingdom do something out it. Anyone in a position to do something either didn't do anything or couldn't do anything. The unfortunate people that worked directly with the people were constantly being harassed or threatened. Each day was getting worse than the last. At this rate, it wouldn't take long for things to turn violent.

"Sir, what are your orders?" Jackson asked.

"Go report this development to the king."

"Are you sure that's a good idea Sir? Wouldn't it be better for you to tell him?" Jackson paled at the order he was given. The phrase "Don't shoot the messenger" always seemed to be a foreign concept to King Faust.

"No, the king is already angry enough at me as it is." Lily said dismissively.

Great; not only did he have to deliver bad news to the king, but the king is already in a bad mood to begin with. "Yes sir" Jackson said hesitantly as he made his way to the throne room, silently praying to whatever deity there was that he would be able to walk away from this encounter with his life.

"Poor bastard" Dalton said somewhat sarcastically.

"Indeed"

"Don't you at least feel a little bad for the guy?"

"Should I?" Lily asked as he gave his comrade a side eye glance.

"Good point" Dalton said as turned to walk away. "Well, I got a lot of work ahead of me now. I'll make sure everyone's ready for what comes next."

"Thank you. Please try to do so discretely. If the Faust learns of what we're preparing he won't hesitate to execute all of us."

"Come on it's me, when am I not discreet?" Dalton asked smugly.

"Would you like for me to explain in detail or would you prefer a list?" Lily replied with a smug grin plastering his face.

"You know, that's just mean." Dalton said as he left to make the necessary preparations.

Lily couldn't help but chuckle at his friend's comment. The usual banter provided a small last minute reprieve from what's to come. With any luck the preparations that Dalton is making wouldn't be necessary. However; with so many lives on the line and how things have been going, Panther Lily couldn't afford to rely on luck.

 **In Earthland**

Hours. Over the course of a mere few hours the small group of mages managed to cross the great distance to where Mystogan had sensed another portal opening. As luck would have it, this portal was still open. However; there was something different about this portal. The portal itself seemed unstable. It was seemed to be having trouble maintaining itself if the appearance of its near constant flickering was any indication to go by. Additionally; the town that was located beneath the portal was still intact with all of the citizens littering the streets, likely staring at the portal in confusion and some level of fear.

As Mystogan stared at the town he couldn't help but feel confused. Thanks to his experience with tracking the portals, he has become extremely proficient at sensing any kind of magical energy. From what he could tell, this town was no different than the last one. He couldn't sense a guild or a large enough amount of ethernano. 'Why are these portals targeting towns with little to no ethernano? Why would they waste what little energy they have on these worthless locations.' He thought to himself.

"I don't get it, isn't something supposed to be happening?" Natsu asked, breaking the silence.

"You're right; from how long this seems to have been open, that town should have been long gone by now." Mystogan answers as he tries to figure out what's going on. From what's he's seen, the portals always open up for a few seconds before siphoning whatever magical energy is in the area before closing a minute or two later. Going off what he's been sensing, this specific portal has been open for about ten minutes and has yet to do anything remotely similar to the others he's encountered. For all intents and purposes this portal can easily be described as the most defective one he's seen.

"Let's figure that out later. What's the plan?" Sayla asks.

"We don't know how much time we have before the portal starts to…" Mystogan began to say as the portal flickered a few more times before it stopped. Before the mages had a chance to process what happened, the portal released a surge of energy before opening even further. The next thing they saw was something that appeared to be coming out of it. After a couple seconds, they saw what was coming out. Safe to say, it was by far the last thing any of them expected to see.

"Are you kidding me?!" Both Natsu and Sayla yelled in unison as they saw what appeared to an island coming through the portal.

"How is this possible?" Mystogan said, completely shocked by what he's seeing. In all the time that he's been shutting down these portals, he's never seen anything like this.

They watched as the island slowly exited the portal, still in disbelief of what they were seeing. It took a second before they fully realized the situation. There's an island coming out of a portal in the sky that's located above a town.

"Oh shit, we have to get everyone out of that town!" Natsu said as he started running towards the town, the rest of the group quickly followed him.

"Do you have a plan?" Mystogan asked from one side of the pinkette. Looking towards the falling island, he estimated that they had a minute or two before it finally collided with the town.

"Yeah, grab everyone we can and run like hell."

"I like it; simple and to the point" Mystogan said with a hint of sarcasm lacing his voice.

"I'm open to suggestions" Natsu replied with an equal amount of sarcasm. Given how many people he could smell within the town; he doubted that they had enough time get everyone out. "Sayla, do you think you can stop that island?"

"As flattered as I am that you think I'm capable of pulling off impossible feat like that; no, I can't completely stop something that size."

"Then can you slow it down? Even if it's only for a minute, we need all the time we can get."

"I'll try," Sayla said as came to a stop, now standing a few miles outside of the town. Raising both of hands towards the island, the demon activated her Macro. Almost immediately, she felt every muscle in her body strain in protest of what she's attempting to do. Every brain cell she has was screaming at her to stop what she was doing. The first thought that popped into her head was that this was clearly something that is far beyond what she is capable of at this point in her life. Or at least that is what she believes to be the case.

Unbeknownst to her, the island had slowed down slightly in its descent, much to the shock and relief of her teammates.

"Holy… Sayla, you're doing it." Morgana exclaimed

"Great," Sayla said through gritted teeth. So far, this stunt is easily proving to be the most difficult and painful stunt that she's ever attempted. "Now get going! I've bought you guys another minute at best." She all but yelled.

"Got it" the rest of her team yelled in unison as they once again started running towards the town.

Even though Sayla had managed buy them slightly more time, neither Mystogan nor Natsu like the odds. They had to successfully evacuate an entire town with only a couple minutes. If they were lucky then everyone would already be outside and ready to run for their life. Of course, neither of them assumed that it would be that easy. There was always something or someone that made things more complicated than it needed it to be.

"I really wish we had some help right now." Natsu said. Knowing their luck, they were bound to encounter people that were bound to make things worse. Given the situation, it was guaranteed that people would be scared out of their mind and that most would become frantic. In the chaos, people are bound to get hurt or left behind and be in a position where they can't escape on their own.

"Don't worry I'll get us some back up," Mystogan said.

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see once we get to the town."

As much as Natsu wanted to question his teammate, his instincts were yelling at him to look up. Listening to his instincts, the pinkette looked up and immediately glad that he did. "Shit, look out!" he yells as he pushes Mystogan out of the way of a piece of debris that had broken off the island and nearly crushed them.

"Thanks, that was close one."

"No problem," Natsu replied as he looked towards the island. Upon closer inspection he caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a building or a house. "Morgana, I need you to fly up to that island."

"What? why?" Morgana asked, not understanding why he was being asked to do so.

"Because I think I might have saw a town up there."

"Are you sure about what you saw?" Mystogan asked only to get a nod in response. Sighing at this new piece of information, he looks towards the flying cat. "Be sure to keep as much distance from the portal as possible. There's no telling what will happen." he warned before taking something out of his pocket. "Take this, it's a flare lacrima. If you find survivors then hit it on the ground and throw it off the island." He said as threw the lacrima towards the cat. "Once we see it, I'll send some help."

"Thanks," Morgana said as he flew off towards the island.

A few seconds later both Mystogan and Natsu finally reached the town. As they expected, the people in the town are completely terrified. All of them were understandably panicking at the sight of an island coming out of the sky to crush them. Why most of them weren't using this time to run as far away as possible in what little time they have. At least some were smart enough to not let natural selection do it job.

"So where's this help you were talking?" Natsu asked

Instead of answering, Mystogan reached for his staff that had a skull with a single eye socket and an elongated jaw. **"Familiar Summons"** he yells as he slams the butt of the staff into the ground. In the next instance multiple shadowy figures started manifesting around the mysterious mage. Each figure stood at about six feet tall and appeared to be lanky in stature. The only other feature that was worth noting was their heads which were very similar to the skull on the staff that Mystogan is holding.

"This is your help?" Natsu asked, already knowing the answer. "They seem helpful."

"They are." Mystogan turned his attention to the people in front of him. "I'll have a small group go with you to assist with people that can't get out on their own. I'll take care of the people who don't need assistance."

"Sounds good to me."

Before either mage could commence with the evacuation a loud bang caught there attention. Turning to see what made that noise, they were shocked to see that the noise came from the portal itself. Once again; the portal started flickering in and out of existence, causing the island that is still exiting it to start to break apart.

Realizing that they now had much less time than what they were hoping for, both Mystogan and Natsu rush to save everyone they can.

 **With Sayla a couple moments ago**

This could not get worse for Sayla. She could feel every muscle in her body strain more than she ever thought possible. The migraine itself was worse than anything the demon. "Could this get any worse?" Sayla asked sarcastically to no one in particular.

As if hearing what Sayla had said, it seems the universe gave her an answer in the form of a loud bang.

Looking up, Sayla's eyes widen at the sight of the island now breaking apart.

Great, this is just what she needed. With the island staying as one solid piece, the demon was able to keep the entirety of her focus on a single thing that she was trying to control. It was still far too much for her to handle, but it was still somewhat manageable to at least slow it down slightly.

With the island now breaking apart, Sayla has to keep her focus on multiple falling objects that are plummeting to the ground. Granted each piece is technically easier to handle just because they are technically smaller and weigh much less. But the collective weight still made this a nigh impossible stunt to pull off.

"You guys better hurry up. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up for." Sayla said as she coughed up a small amount of blood.

 **With Mystogan and Natsu**

Things could not get any worse right now. With the plummeting island breaking apart, everything has completely broken down. Nearly everyone in the town is now panicking more than they were a minute ago. The only people that weren't in a frenzied panic are the people that were smart enough to evacuate the town as soon as the island started appearing out of the sky and the two mages that were trying to save the people that didn't leave.

In the panic some people tried to start a riot. Key word being tried. As soon as they started wreaking havoc, someone was there to knock that person out. Whether that person is Mystogan with his sleep magic, Natsu with literally anything within arm's reach, or the various shadow figures with whatever they feel like. Between the last two, there have been quite a few people that have been knocked out by signs, benches, various plants, and on a couple of occasions other people that have already been knocked out.

Thankfully, things were moving at a fairly consistent pace. If things kept at this pace and nothing worse happens, then the town should be completely evacuated fairly soon.

Of course, the universe had to intervene somehow.

"Everyone, you have to keep moving" Mystogan said as he directed the citizens out the town. The shadowy familiars he summoned were doing a good job of keeping things relatively calm, if for nothing else because no one wanted to get knocked out by the shadow figures.

Natsu for his part had just ripped the door off of a house along with a small portion of the front of the house. Given the situation, the pinkette isn't concerned with property damage.

Entering the house, the dual slayer quickly makes his way towards where he can smell people. Busting through another door, he sees a woman standing there with two kids who the pinkette assumes are her kids.

"Who are you?" The woman asked as she moves in front of her kids.

"Sorry, I don't have time to explain that. I need to get you and your kids out of here before the island hits the ground."

"How are you going to do that? We're in the middle of town."

"Just leave it to them" Natsu said as he gestured to the two shadowy figures behind him. The familiars move to pick them up, one picking up both of the kids while the other picks up their mother. "What are you waiting for? Run!" Natsu yells as the familiars rush out of the house in attempt to clear the town as fast as possible.

Exiting the house, the pinkette smells the area around him. From what he could tell anyone that was stuck indoors has been rescued. All that needed to be done now was escort the remaining people out of the town. 'It'll be close, but we should be able to make it,' Natsu thought to himself as he looks towards the island.

He was brought out of his thoughts by something crashing into the house he was just in not even a few seconds ago. The force of the impact was enough to nearly knock him off his feet. Turning around, Natsu saw what he could only assume is a rather large piece of debris had just crushed the house.

"Mystogan, we need to hurry up. It's raining island on us." Natsu yells as he dodged a couple of smaller pieces of debris.

"Easier said than done," Mystogan said as he took out another one of his staffs that has a fan like design. "Is there anyone else that needs help with escaping?"

"Not that I know of, anyone that needed help is either already out of town or on their way."

"That's good" Mystogan said as he fires a beam of whitish purple energy towards another piece of debris, instantly destroying it.

"Yeah, now for the fun part" Natsu said sarcastically as his looks over the people that are still escaping. "Can you have those familiars' group people together?"

"Shouldn't be too much trouble," the reclusive mages said as he orders his familiars to do just that. He could understand what the pinkette was thinking. Having the people group up makes it lowers the amount of area that they have to protect. However, this plan did a very huge flaw in it. If a piece of debris got past both of the mages, the number of people that would get hurt will be higher than when they were spread apart.

Thanks to Sayla's efforts, they wouldn't have to keep this up for long. They only had to do this for about another minute. Unfortunately this is going to be the longest minute either mage has experienced in a long time.

Noticing a few more large pieces of debris; Mystogan fires of a few more beams of energy towards the falling rocks, obliterating them instantly.

" **Fire Fist,"** Natsu yells as he launches one pillar of fire after another, destroying everything in its path. "You know, on any other occasion this would actually be a lot of fun"

"If it wasn't for the fact that any mistake we make will result in people dying, I might agree with you." Mystogan replied before a particular piece of debris caught his attention. Not only was it much larger than any of the other pieces that have been falling, but their also happened to be a couple buildings that were resting on it. This confirmed some bad news that the mage was hoping he wouldn't have to hear of. The island that was falling is indeed one of the populated ones. Unfortunately that thought will need to wait another second or two. From the size of it, Mystogan could tell that he didn't have an attack at his disposal that would destroy the falling rock in time. "Natsu, we need to take out that rock! Do you have anything that can destroy it?"

"Yeah, I just need to get up to it," Natsu said as he sized up the falling rock. His train of thought is similar to his partner. The pinkette also noticed the buildings on the rock. His line of thought also drifted to Morgana. Since the cat has left to search the island, he has yet to return. 'Please Morgana; tell me nothing happened to you'

"I'll take care of it," Mystogan said as he summoned another one of his familiars. Instead of the usual ones that the reclusive mage has summoned, this particular familiar had a pair of wings attached to its back.

Without being told to do so; the familiar bolted towards Natsu, picking him by the back of his shirt. Quickly changing its course; the familiar flies as fast as possible towards the larger piece of debris. Ducking and weaving, it effortlessly dodges every obstacle in its path. Anything that was too large for the shadow dodge was quickly destroyed by the beams that Mystogan shot out of his staff.

Natsu, for his part, surprisingly didn't hate the experience of being carried by the familiar. Initially he assumed that his motion sickness was going to effectively make him useless until he landed on the debris. That being said, it still was a far less than pleasant experience.

A few seconds of hectic flying later, Natsu was dropped off on the giant piece of rock. It was at this moment that the pinkette's motion sickness had set in. "Ugh, you got to be kidding me!" he yells as he tries to steady himself. A couple seconds. That's all the time he'll need to pull this off. Engulfing his hand in purple and black flames, the devil slayer takes a deep breath. **"Fire Devil's Cataclysmic Inferno"** Natsu yells as he plunges his fist into the debris, sending cracks throughout it. From the cracks emanate an ominous purple light which are quickly followed by the entire falling rock being engulfed in purple and black flames. Not even a second later the falling debris explodes from the attack, completely destroying it and leaves Natsu to fall to the ground.

While falling, the dual slayer was caught by what he assumes was the same familiar that was just carrying a couple seconds earlier.

"I'll admit it, these familiars of yours are awesome" Natsu said as he was dropped off on the ground.

"Thank you." Mystogan said as he tried to catch his breath. He wasn't used to summoning so many familiars in such a short amount of time. Especially to carry out such a demanding job like this. Normally he would only summon them to assist in discreetly setting up traps while he was busy fighting. Add in the number of powerful long range attacks that he used to destroy falling debris, it's a wonder that Mystogan still had any energy left. "Let's go, the evacuation is finally over."

"What about Morgana? We still haven't heard anything from him." Natsu asked as they started to make their way out of the town.

"Right now all we can do is hope for the best. I know that's not what you want to hear but we don't have any other option with the time we have."

Noticing a shadow that's growing larger by the second, both mages stop and look up. Immediately they regretted their unconscious decision to stop running. Not too far above them is by far the largest piece of debris that they had seen so far. How it got to so close to either of them without their knowing was beyond either mage at that moment.

"Shit, look out!" Natsu yells as he roughly kicks Mystogan out of the way. Seeing that his partner is safe from immediate danger, the pinkette turns towards the rock. The falling rock was large enough that if the slayer turned and run at the moment he would probably still be crushed. Realizing that he only has one option, Natsu cocks his arm back.

However; before he could prepare any kind of attack, the pinkette feels something crash into his stomach hard. Whatever it is, it certainly had enough force to assist in launching Natsu far enough back to not be crushed to death.

Hitting the ground hard, the dual slayer notices a ball of black and white fur lying on his stomach. "There you are Morgana. Thanks, I owe you big time for this." Natsu said as he wraps his arms around his cat friend.

"Yeah you do. I demand some sushi when we get back to Magnolia." Morgana said with a slightly cheeky tone to his voice. If it wasn't for his exhaustion, the flying cat would probably make another joke at that moment. But with all the flying he has had to do, Morgana barely had the strength to move a muscle. Thankfully Natsu is more than willing to carry him.

"Natsu!" the two hear another voice yell out. Turning their attention to its source, they see Mystogan running from the other side of the massive piece of island that had just crashed into the ground. "Good, you're ok." They hear him release a sigh of relief after that before he notices the cat the pinkette is holding. "Good timing Morgana, it's good to see that you're alright."

"Sorry to rush you guys, but we still need to get the hell out of this town." Natsu said, making the others with him notice the island that is still falling. Just from looking at it they could tell that it was now picking up significantly more speed, indicating that Sayla was no longer able to slow it down.

"I agree. Run now, talk later." Mystogan replies as they all started running as fast as possible. As if to provide further encouragement, the area around started being pelted by even more falling debris.

"Shit!" Natsu yells as he raises an arm to shield his face from rock that landed to his right. His arm was busy trying to carry Morgana and shield the cat at the same time.

By now, so many rocks were crashing into the streets and various buildings that it felt more like the mages were caught in the middle of a battlefield. Everything thing around them was exploding. They were being showered in debris every couple of seconds.

Without looking, all three of them could tell that island was drawing closer to them.

Grabbing the skull staff on his back, Mystogan quickly summons two more winged familiars. The already flying familiars grabbed both mages by the back of their shirts. If there was ever a time to use of the last of his reserves, now is literally the best time to use them.

Natsu, who was busy trying to not get himself or Morgana, was completely oblivious to the familiar's presence. Turning his head, he was immediately relieved to see the familiar. Having just experienced how fast the flying shadowy figures are, the pinkette couldn't be happier to see it.

Dodging debris at a much faster rate, the familiars were further proving their value with each passing second. They were able to consistently stay ahead of the encroaching shadow that is indicating how close the island is to crashing in the town.

Fifty feet to go, the edge of the town is now coming to view of the mages. Judging by their speed, they were a mere few seconds away from escaping. Thirty feet, the shadow of the island is now catching up to them. Ten feet, they were nearly there. Five feet, this is it. Either they were going to escape the crash with their lives or be crushed.

Much closer than any of them would have liked, the mages managed to escape the town. Looking back they saw that the island is only a few seconds away from impact. Quickly bracing themselves, all they could do at this point was watch.

The moment the island touch down, a massive shockwave kicked up an even larger dust cloud. The force of the impact was more than enough to cause the familiars to dissipate; leaving the mages they were carrying to hit the ground hard as the momentum was enough to keep propelling them forward.

Eventually they came to stop. Using this time catch their breaths, the mages waited for the dust cloud to settle before doing anything.

"Hey Mystogan, are you still alive?" Natsu said in between breaths; the adrenaline that was keeping him going was now fading away. Leaving him with whatever residual energy he has left.

"I'm not sure, ask me again in a couple hours," Mystogan answers sarcastically. He is beyond tired. Physically the young mage is ok, but magically he is running on fumes thanks to the number of familiars he summed and all the additional spells he used to destroy debris.

"Eh, you're fine." The pinkette says as he looks down towards the other member of the group. "What about you Morgana, are you ok?"

"I'm fine," unsurprisingly the cat is tired too.

"That's good. Come on we need to go check on Sayla"

"Can't we catch our breath first" Mystogan asked, not wanting to get on his feet just yet.

"Sure, after we meet up with Sayla" Natsu said as he pulled Mystogan to his feet.

"Fine, let's get going"

 **With Sayla**

She had done it. Sayla had managed to slow down an entire island that was plummeting towards the ground. She had managed to slow it down enough to give the others enough time to evacuate the people in the town below it. And now she was suffering the after math of that impressive feat. Everything hurt. The young demon could feel an intense pain shooting throughout every muscle in her body. The migraine she has is quite literally the most painful one she has experienced. Even breathing normally was proving to be a bit challenging.

"Sayla," the demoness hears someone yelling her name. From where she was sitting, which was against a tree that was fairly close to where she was, Sayla saw her group approaching. She couldn't help but feel relieved at the Confirmation of their safety. Upon further inspection, she could see that they were covered in dirt and grime and their clothes were lightly tattered and slightly torn in a couple spots. Other than that, they seemed mostly fine with the exception of obviously looking exhausted.

"Hey guys," Sayla said; the exhaustion in her voice made it clear to the others just how much she had over exerted herself.

"Hey Sayla, are you ok?" Natsu asks; feeling concerned at seeing the state the demon is in. As he walked forward he noticed a couple spots of grass that were covered in blood.

Sayla couldn't hold the small smile that appeared on her face that came from seeing how concerned the dual slayer is over her wellbeing. "I'll be fine; just don't ask me to do anything like that for a while."

"That's good, hopefully we won't have to." Natsu said as he sits against the tree next to Sayla. Upon sitting down, the pinkette could feel her resting head against his shoulder. Letting her try to get comfortable, Natsu turns his attention toward the other member of their group. "What are the odds that we'll have to do this again?" He asked Mystogan.

"Unfortunately I can't answer that. I've never seen anything like this before." Mystogan answers as he finds a comfortable spot on the grass to lie down on.

"I guess today is a day full of first then." The pinkette says as he rests against a tree. "So what's next?" That's the million jewel question. After what they just went through; what will they have to do next?

"For now, let's rest. I can't sense any other portals opening at the moment so our option are limited at the moment. We'll need to be ready for whatever happens next."

Unfortunately those words didn't provide much comfort to the rest of the group. "Please tell me you have a plan to stop these portals." Sayla says. So far, Mystogan still hasn't explained much of the plan to them.

"I do, unfortunately we cannot do anything until another portal appears." Mystogan replies. He didn't like the fact they are stuck in a situation where they have to wait and react before they can move any further with his plan. Seeing as they currently have more than enough, Mystogan turns his attention to the cat the Natsu is holding with an important question in mind. Though he believes he already knows the answer, he needs the confirmation. "Morgana, when you went to search the island did you find any survivors?"

Hearing the question causes Morgana's ears to drop as is face took on a sullen expression. "I… I couldn't find anyone alive."

"I see" Mystogan says, after all of this he was hoping to hear some good news. Sure they had managed to save everyone in the town but they weren't able to help those that were unfortunately trapped on the island. For him, the worst part is that there was no way for him to know if those people could have been saved. Their deaths alone also raised some concerns. He knew for a fact that travelling through the portals and surviving is completely possible. That just brought up more questions that he didn't want to think too much on.

"But I saw something strange. There weren't enough bodies." The cat said, quickly gaining the attention those around him.

"What do you mean?" Mystogan asked, sounding hopeful at this piece of news.

"I mean I didn't find that many people. For an island with so many buildings, I thought that there would have been more people."

"I see, thank you." It wasn't much but did provide the masked mage with at least some comfort that at least some people managed to escape. To where he didn't know but anywhere is better than a doomed island.

 **Edolas**

Things were going so well. In a few short days Panther Lily had managed to organize a considerable strike force and get the necessary supplies to carry out what needed to be done. What was better was that him and Dalton managed to put all of together discretely.

In the time these preparations were taking place even more islands have disappeared. Byro kept promising to have the Anima repaired before things became worse but after a couple days of Lily came to conclusion he expected to come to. It was time to put the Anima out of commission.

The plan was simple; Lily and Dalton would sneak into the Anima chambers and destroy it. The strike force was to be brought along with in the case things went south. In hindsight, Lily should have brought the entirety of his division. Maybe then he and his men would have stood a better chance.

They only managed to get to one of the courtyards that were closer to the palace before they were ambushed by two separate divisions of the military. The second division made up one of the larger divisions of the kingdom's army. However, where the second division had the advantage of superior numbers, Panther Lily's had the advantage of having far superior soldiers. One of Lily's soldiers is easily worth a dozen of the second division soldiers.

However the skill wasn't enough for their situation. They were surrounded by all sides by the second division and had to worry about the sixth division. The sixth division was a smaller unit of specialist that was made of mages that specialized in demolition and outmaneuvering opponents.

In every single way the odds were stacked against them. If it wasn't for Dalton then the whole operation would have been lost.

 **Flashback**

"Hicks, Burke cover our flank!" Lily orders as he takes behind a downed pillar to protect himself from multiple explosive attacks.

"Damn this went south fast." Dalton said as he took cover besides his commanding officer.

"Indeed, we need a new plan of attack." Lily said as he attempted to catch a peak over the pillar. From what he could see, the other divisions were well dug in and ready to drag this out as much as possible. If it wasn't for the mages in the sixth division, Lily would have rushed their encampments and overpower them. But the mages did an outstanding job at keeping his men on the defensive. Any plan Lily could have come up with for an effective counter attack posed too many risk. It had now become a battle of attrition and him and his men were on the wrong side of the onslaught.

Dalton saw the same Lily did. If they tried to counter attack, they died quickly. If they stayed on the defense it was only a matter of time before there killed or captured and executed for their actions. Dalton couldn't help himself from laughing grimly at the situation. "We're damned if stay here and damned if try to move."

"That's the gist of our situation," There had to be something. There had to be some play that would get him and his men out of this situation. He would even settle for attempting to gain better position by now. But every plan he could come up with could be easily countered and leave his squad in a worse situation for later.

Unlike Panther Lily, Dalton had a plan. It wasn't a good one but it had the highest possibility for success. It was a plan that someone like Lily could never come up with. The damn exceed was far too honorable and loyal to his soldiers to even entertain such an idea. "Commander, I have a plan." He said, gaining the attention of his commanding officer.

In all the time Lily has known Dalton, Dalton has never called the exceed by his rank. With as much as they've been through together, calling each other by rank was almost a foreign thing to them. Whatever this is, Lily knew he wasn't going to like it. "What is it?"

"You make your way to the caverns secret entrance whiles the rest of the men and I buy you as much time as we." Dalton said as he stared the exceed in his eyes.

"You can't be serious!" Lily yelled in protest, ducking even more as another explosion went off near the pillar he was taking cover behind. This plan is tantamount to a suicide mission. They were out number and out gunned. They were already in a situation where they were struggling to hold what ground they had. Their position left them surrounded by all sides with no way to escape without suffering heavy casualties.

"As serious as I can be. No matter what we're not all getting out of here. We don't have the numbers to force our way through their defenses. With the way their dug in and how well their equipped, the longer we stay here the more opposition we'll have to deal with. With us acting as a diversion, you'll be able to make it to Anima chambers and stop that damn device."

"That's suicide dammit!" Lily yells angrily. How could Dalton expect him to go through with such a horrible plan? The exceed commander would rather be publicly executed than abandon his soldiers.

"Look commander, we don't have any other options. We're already up shits creak as it is."

"I refuse to abandon all of you! There has to be a better."

"Sir there is no other way, besides you wouldn't be abandoning us." Another soldier said.

"We're soldiers. If it means that we can protect the citizens of this kingdom, we'll happily lay down our lives and accept our fates." Dalton said, cutting off Lily before the exceed could come up any kind of retort.

One by each soldier that was part of the strike force vocalized their approval of this plan. They knew that this is a last ditch effort. Each one of them accepted that fact.

"I'm sorry, if I had prepared better for this situation then we wouldn't be in this situation." Lily said apologetically. This is by far the toughest thing he has ever had to do. The fact that each one of his soldiers were telling him to go made this much harder for him.

"If you're really sorry then you can buy the drinks once we make it through this." Dalton said jokingly in an attempt brings the mood in this bleak situation. "We knew that this was a possibility when we agreed to tag along for this mission."

"If all of you make it through this then I'll buy the damn bar." Panther Lily replied. He really could not have asked for better soldiers to fight side by side with.

"You heard the man! If any of you die then I'll personally drag you back from the gates of hell and kick your ass myself." Dalton said, getting a round of cheers from each of the soldiers with them. Facing the exceed, Dalton threw a bag towards Lily, "You heard them Commander, you better get going."

"Thank you" Panther Lily said as slung the bag over his shoulder. He immediately recognized it as one of the bags carrying explosives.

"No problem, I'm just doing my job."

"Goodbye Dalton"

"Goodbye Lily, see you once this is all over."

 **Flashback End**

In the chaos of the fighting Lily managed to sneak away from the fight. One of the many things he could credit his soldiers with was that they certainly knew how to make a damn good distraction. Thanks to the distraction, he managed to make it to the secret entrance.

Now standing before him is the very device that has become the bane of his existence. In the recent weeks, the Anima has proven to cost more than it was worth. It claimed so many lives that the exceed couldn't believe that it came to this. He couldn't believe that the he had to betray the kingdom he swore to protect just so the he can ensure the safety of the citizens.

But the Anima isn't what the exceed was focusing on. What he was focusing on who has become the bane of his existence if King Faust himself. But the old king wasn't there without some form of prediction. That was putting it mildly. Faust didn't bring a simple magical weapon or a group of soldiers.

What the king had brought is a mechanical dragon known as the Dorma Anim. Amongst all the weapons the kingdom has in its disposal, there is known that anywhere near as dangerous as the mechanical dragon. It was even banned from being so dangerous along with consuming too much magical energy.

Diving to the right, Lily just narrowly avoided beam that was fired from the arm of the machine.

"Why am I not surprised that it is you who is behind this coup" Faust said from within the cockpit, the intercom making his words clear the exceed to hear.

"What do you expect me to do when you are so consumed by your lust for power that you have quit caring for the wellbeing of the citizens of your kingdom?!"

"I wouldn't expect a blasted exceed to understand our situation. All of your damn kind can freely use magic. None of you have ever had to ration your magic. None of you have ever had to make tough decisions and sacrifices to maintain your way of life!" Faust yells, getting angrier with each sentence.

Lily recognized that tone; it's a tone that told him that trying to change the King's mind will be impossible. The exceed fully expected this to happen but the timing and conditions could have been better. Lily had to play the situation smart since he didn't have enough explosives to deal with both the Anima and the Dorma Anim. Additionally he wasn't aware of any weaknesses the mechanized dragon had to he could exploit with the given conditions. However; If Lily played this right, he could trick Faust into taking out the Anima for him. Though the requires the exceed to leave himself open to every attack and hope he can move fast enough to dodge every attack at the last second. He couldn't afford to make a single mistake or that's it.

Bringing the exceed out of his musings, he barely had enough to time to dodge the large beam that was blasted towards him. Dodging at the last second, Lily quickly ran off to another side of the cavern. The wall he was hiding behind not even a second ago was completely destroyed.

"If you think I'm going to give you enough time to catch your breath then you are sorely mistaken." Faust yells as he begins firing off a series missiles.

While somehow missing Lily with every missile, the cavern wasn't so fortunate. The walls were gaining massive craters, various pillars were being destroyed and multiple stalactites we're falling to the ground. Unbeknownst to either of the people in the massive cave, something was happening with the Anima. As the fighting continued to escalate, the Anima began glowing brighter and became redder with each passing minute.

After so much time, the changes became so apparent that it caught attention of both occupants

Panther Lily could only stare at the glowing bright red device in dread. "Oh shi…."

 **Earthland**

"AHHHHH," Came the pain filled scream of Mystogan as he dropped to ground, clutching his head with both of hands.

"Mystogan, what's going on?!" Natsu asked. In the couple hours they've been resting, he's one that managed to recuperate the most.

"Portals" the masked mage said in between grunts of pain. "So many portals are opening are opening at the same time." His voice made it clear to the others just how much anguish he was experiencing at that moment.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean a lot of portal just opened all at once." He answered as he managed to get back on his feet. "Come on, we need to go now."

"Where are we going?" Sayla asked as Natsu helped her to her feet.

"Wherever the nearest portal is," and like that Mystogan began running towards where he felt the highest amount of magical energy, leaving the others to catch up to him.

Unlike every other timer he's done this, Mystogan didn't know exactly where he was going. Before, he would just have a single energy source to follow. But this time that wasn't an option. There are simply too many portals to track which was the best to go to.

Instead Mystogan was relying on a pure gut feeling to lead him. He didn't know why or how but something was telling that the direction he's going now is the best route to take.

It wasn't till after almost an hour of running when it felt like they were getting close to something. Well, it was more like that was when Natsu picked up a scent he wasn't familiar with. There was something about the scent that just seemed off to him. He's been to many places and has experienced many things but this scent is one of the most peculiar that he has smelt. In his relatively short life, he's only ever smelt one thing that was similar to this. For some reason this smell reminded him of Morgana. "Guys, there's someone up ahead."

Passing a few more trees, they see who Natsu smelled. Lying against a tree is a cat with black and white fur. What caught Natsu and Sayla's attention was the cat's height. He is as tall as a full grown adult man. Upon further inspection they noticed something more interesting, the condition they found him in. it was easy tell that he was in some sort of serious fight. The armor the cat man was wearing is heavily dented and has multiple fractures with large amounts pouring out of the cracks.

"Panther Lily, what happened to you?!" Mystogan asked, feeling concerned for the exceed that was once his savior.

"Huh, who are you?" Lily asked, not recognizing the masked kid in front of him.

In place of answering the question; Mystogan removed the bandannas he was wearing that was covering his blue hair and tattooed face, revealing his face to the exceed and the others in his group that are now seeing his face for the first time.

"Prince Jellal? What are you doing here?" Lily asked, not expecting to see the prince in the middle of who knows where.

"I'm trying to find out what happened to you?" Jellal said as he dropped his bandannas to the ground.

"Hehe, I see that you still have that dry sense of humor. To answer your question, the Anima suffered a final malfunction."

"How did that happen?" Mystogan asked. Out of all the outcomes he expected, this was by far one of the worst ones he was hoping to avoid. With as many portals as he felt opening, the fate of the universe he was from was becoming more uncertain.

"For a while now the Anima has been malfunctioning at an increasing rate. It got to a point where it was almost occurring on a daily basis. If I had to guess, your father who thought it was a good idea to use the Dorma Anim against me in the Anima Chambers proved to be too much for it."

Jellal couldn't believe it. He's always known how power hungry his father is, but he never expected the old man to be willing to go to such extremes in such a dangerous location. "Why would he do something so dangerous?"

"Simple, I couldn't accept the malfunctions nearly as well as your father could and tried to shut the Anima down myself. And, well, we both know severe he can be when he gets angry enough. We also know just how much he believes in overkill."

And there it is a reminder of what was easily the worst part of Faust's personality. Countless times Jellal has seen his father execute large numbers of people over what the young mage would consider petty reasons. "What happened to him? Is he still alive?" Lily had done a great job at answering the entirety of Jellal's questions. But now he needed to know what happened to his father. The may not have parted on the best of terms, but he needed to know of his father's fate.

"It's possible, but I cannot say for certain. I've been here for some time and I'm not exactly in the best to go looking for him."

"He's over there" Natsu cuts in, pointing somewhere past another group of trees. This caught both Jellals and Lily's immediate attention, their heads turning so fast that the pinkette was surprised that their necks didn't snap.

"What do you? How can you be certain?" The exceed asked as he focused on the pinkette.

"Because I can smell someone that has a scent similar to Mystogan past those trees." Natsu stated evenly.

Hearing this, Panther Lily tried to get up. He didn't know what he was going to do; he'll figure it out later. In his attempt, Lily felt a on his shoulder apply enough to keep him against the tree.

"You're in no position to go anywhere. I'll confront my father, you stay here." Jellal said firmly. There was something about what he said that convinced the exceed to listen.

"He's right; you'll bleed out if you don't get your wounds taken care of." Natsu said as he turns his attention to Mystogan. "Go, Sayla and I will take care of him." He continues, only getting a nod of agreement from the bluenette.

"Thank you for looking after me," Lily said with as much sincerity as he could muster.

"You would hold your thanks till after I heal you. The spell I'm going to use isn't a pleasant." Natsu warns before turning his focus to Sayla. "Can you put him to sleep."

"Of course," Sayla replies as she activated her **Macro**.

"Why are you putting me to sleep?" Lily asked curiously. He didn't know why but he felt like he wasn't going to look forward to finding out why.

"Because that spell I mention is going to hurt like hell and… huh, well let's just say that you don't want to be awake for it" Natsu answers right before Sayla knocks out Lily.

 **With Mystogan**

There he is, the man that Jellal knew as his father. Faust was kneeling on the ground in front of a rather tall cliff. Surrounding the king are the destroyed remains of the Dorma Anim. All of Jellal's life, his father had this aura around him that warned people not to cross the old man. Growing up in the palace, Jellal has witnessed multiple times what happened when someone wasn't smart enough to heed that unspoken warning. "What happened," he asked the king only to get no response. "What happened?!" Jellal asks more forcefully. "Father!"

That managed to catch the king's attention. "Jellal?" the king says as he turns to face his son, shocking the bluenette with his appearance.

From what Jellal could tell Faust appeared to be just fine when it came to his physical health. It is the look on the old man's face that was shocking. Faust looked as though that he was feeling shock and despair that left him more lost than he ever has in his long life. It's so contrasting to his normally intimidating and imposing presence that Jellal could help but feel disturbed by it.

"It's gone. My kingdom, it's all gone." The king said, now coming to realization that he is no longer royalty. His birth right, the very thing he has dedicated his life to is now gone. Unbeknownst to him, those words he just spoke enraged his estranged son.

Stepping forward to see what his father was looking at, Jellal was mortified at what he saw. Standing at the top of the tall cliff gave the young mage a clear view of multiple islands that came from his dimension, all of which had clearly crashed into the ground beneath them. One the islands had the remains of the palace that he once called home resting on it. But it was the realization of how many must have died that mortified him the most. "Oh my god"

"Dammit! If it wasn't for that damn exceed I would still have my kingdom! I would still have my title! I would still have the Anima"

"Really?! With everything that has happened, that's all you care about?!" Jellal couldn't believe. How is it possible for a king of all people to be so apathetic towards his own people? How is it possible to put material possessions above the lives of all the people that must have died?

"Of course you stupid brat! I'm their king; it's the duty of the people to do whatever their kings tell them. I must die to maintain my position, then so be it."

That's all the confirmation Jellal needed. With those words the young mage knew that the man he used to recognize as his father has now lost his mind to. "It's over now Faust"

"Don't tell me it's over! I'm the King! I say when it's over!"

"No, you were a king. There's no such thing as a king without a kingdom, which you just lost." Mystogan replied, feeling more pity for the old man then he expected to. "Who knows; if I haven't been shutting down the portals on this side, than this universe could have been lost to."

"You little bastard! This is your fault. You're the reason why I lost everything."

"Don't blame me for your failures."

"You little shit! I should have had you executed you when I had the chance!" Faust yells. Never before has he felt so much rage. If it wasn't for this little waste of life that is unfortunately his spawn he would still have everything. It's because of this one child that all of his life work is gone.

By now, there is nothing that Faust could say that would have any kind of impact on Jellal anymore. He's nothing more than some rambling old man that's looking for someone to blame. "Goodbye Faust" Jellal said as he turned to leave.

"Don't turn your back on me!" Faust bellows out angrily. Not liking that he is being ignored by his own sown of all people, he reaches for a sharp piece of shrapnel. He'll make this little brat pay. "Damn you!" he yells as he rushes towards his son.

Faust is many things, but a fighter he is not. He's never had the training or combat prowess of those under him. He doesn't have the speed or reflexes necessary to kill someone, just the willingness. He's never been the one getting his hands dirty.

Mystogan on the other hand did have those attributes. Swiftly dodging to the side, Mystogan grabs one of his staffs before pressing the head of it into Faust's chest. Before Faust could process what happened, a blast of magical energy rips through his chest.

Taking a few subsequent steps back, Faust barely musters enough strength to look down at his wound. In place of where his old heart once was now is massive hole. Looking towards the child in front of him, he didn't see a glimpse of remorse on Jellal's face. "You…" was all Faust managed to say before falling backwards off the cliff.

It was almost a minute before Mystogan moved from his spot. A myriad of thought and emotions were going through his mind. Right now there's only one that mattered now.

"So that's it?" Mystogan hears someone say. Turning towards where the voice came from, he sees Natsu and Sayla standing not too far away from him.

"Yes, that's it," was his reply. Given how many things were going through his mind, it's amazing that he was able to say that much. "It's over"

"Are you ok?" Natsu asked

"I'll be fine. How's Panther Lily?" Mystogan asked in an attempt to change the subject.

"He'll be fine, his wounds have been taken care of and we left him with Morgana. Are you sure you're fine? You did just kill your father." Sayla asked, concern lacing her voice. While she may not be familiar with parental bonds, she is aware of how much humans value those types of relationships.

"If I didn't then he would have continued trying to kill me." The bluenette couldn't stop himself from letting out a long drawn out sigh. With everything that has happened today, he just needed a break so that he can collect his thoughts. Unfortunately now is not the time for a break. "Can you please take Lily back to the guild?"

"Sure, but what are you going to do?"

"There's something I need to look into."

"Ok; if you need any help, don't hesitate to ask." Natsu said as he held out Mystogan's bandannas.

"Will do, thanks." Mystogan replied as a he took the pieces of cloth from the pinkette. "It shouldn't take me too long." He finished as he put his bandannas on as started to leave the area. Seeing no reason to stay, Natsu and Sayla went to pick up the exceeds before making their way back to the guild. All they could do now was hope for the best.

 **Three Days Later**

It's been a long few days for Natsu and Sayla. Upon returning to the guild before Mystogan, it was up to them to inform Makarov how the mission went. While happy that his children made it back from this mission, he still felt remorseful with how everything turned out. The old master especially felt sorry Mystogan for what he had to do.

On the lighter side of things, Panther Lily managed to make a full recovery despite having a few scars that were added to collection. Since recovering, he even joined the guild and seemed to be fitting in quite well. Though, he has spent most of his time training. When asked about this, Lily claimed that he was training so that he would never be in another position where he has to rely on Natsu to heal his wounds. Lily even said that he would rather go another ten round with the Dorma Anim. While some didn't believe he was telling the truth, everyone just left it at that. They all just let the former division commander process his feelings on his terms.

At the moment Natsu and Sayla are walking back to their house. Wanting to get cleaned up after a day of training and spending time at the guild, Wendy ran ahead with Carla and Morgana following close behind.

If it wasn't for the pinkette picking up a certain scent, they would have made it back to the house already.

"You know, one of these days we're going to have a long conversation about how got so stealthy." Natsu said as he turned to face a tree that was a short distance away. Seriously, with as strong as the pinkette's sense of smell is, there should be no reason why someone the same age as him should be able to get so close without him noticing.

"How about we save that conversation for another day." Mystogan said as he came out from behind a tree.

"I'm going to hold you to that Mystogan," the pinkette said while smirking before gaining a serious expression. "Or would you prefer if we started calling you Jellal" Natsu asked curiously

"No, I would prefer if the both of you continued referring to me as Mystogan. As far as I'm concerned, Jellal Faust is no more.

Both demon and devil slayer could understand why he get rid of his old. After seeing what kind of person his was, it only makes sense Mystogan wouldn't want anything that associates him with the former king. Even if no one in this world knows of King Faust, the more degrees of separation the better.

"So, did you find whatever it is you were looking into?" It was Sayla's turn to ask. With as fast as he left, it had to be something important.

"I did and before you ask about it, I want to thank the both of you for assisting me with the job. I was so quick to leave that it slipped my mind." Mystogan said as he started removing his bandannas. With what they went through together a few days ago, there's no reason for him to hide appearance from them.

"Given what had happen right before you took off, it's understandable that something so trivial would slip your mind." Sayla said she took in Mystogan's new appearance. Instead of the blue hair they seen, the usually masked mage has dyed it black. Additionally he has another tattoo that surrounded his left eye that matched the tattoo around his right eye. "So what is it that you were looking into? Or were you actually spending these last few days getting a makeover?"

Mystogan couldn't help but chuckle that. It was actually the first time that either Natsu and seen him express an emotion other than serious and angry. It was kind of relieving for them to see. "No, I can assure you that I was actually looking into something important." Mystogan said before gesturing towards his new features. "I just did this this morning."

"Come on, out with it. What were you looking into?" Natsu asked, his curiosity starting to get the better of him.

"I was looking into the wreckage that came from Edolas." Mystogan said, noticing that both of the mages before him were paying even more attention to his every word. "Relax; I might have some good news. There weren't enough islands that came through the portals." He said, only gaining confused looks from the others

"Ok, I'll bite. What does that mean?" Natsu was the first to ask.

"It means that when the Anima was destroyed, it didn't take out every island in Edolas."

"That's great news," Sayla was the first that responded to the news.

"You can say that again," Natsu couldn't help but smile at this piece of news. Both he and the demon beside him were thinking the same thing. They were relieved to learn that an entire world didn't die just because of a single deranged man's greed.

"It is. At least something good came of this mess." Mystogan said as he ran a hand through hair. "It's not much, but it's something at least."

"So what are you going to do? Are you going to try to find some way to get back to Edolas?" Natsu asked

"No; I would prefer to stay here in Earthland. Edolas was never really home to me. With everything I've seen Faust do when I was still living in the palace, there's no way for me to able to step foot in in that world without feeling guilty for failing to stop him." That wasn't the entire reason behind his reasoning, but it was basically gist of it. Honestly; there are too many bad memories and experiences associated with Edolas for him to want to return.

"It's good to hear that you're going to stick around. Does that have something to do with you changing your appearance?" Natsu asked.

"Yes it does. You see; Earthland and Edolas are worlds that run parallel to each other. As such each world has their own versions of the same person." He explained.

"So you're saying that you changed your appearance so that you won't get confused for this world's Jellal" Sayla asked. The reasoning behind it made perfect sense. Going around looking like someone else and sharing that person's name was just asking for trouble.

"In a nut shell, yes. I have a couple other reasons but that's basically it." There's no point to go into those other reasons right now. Nothing would change either way and the reasons themselves weren't important enough at the moment.

"So what are you going to do now? Are you going to stay a part of Fairy Tail?" Natsu asked. While the pinkette is genuinely curious, he did have a specific reason for asking.

"Looks like it. As far as work goes, I believe that the guild offers the best employment opportunities for me. Plus the jobs can be pretty exciting at times." Mystogan said, not being able to hide the grin on his face. While he has never spent an extended period of within the guild, he's always heard of how strong the comradery is with everyone that's part of the guild. It might be good for him to experience something like that for once in his life.

"Then I have an idea," Natsu said excitedly, gaining curious gazes from both Mystogan and Sayla. "The three of us should form a team."

"What?" Both brunettes asked in unison.

"I said that we should form a team."

"I can understand why you would want to start one with Sayla since you two seem close. But why would you want to form a team with? We just met three days ago." Mystogan asked incredulously.

"Why wouldn't I? With as well as we worked together during that job, it makes perfect sense to." Answered Natsu

"So you want to work together because of our chemistry during the last mission." At least the reasoning behind the pinkette's thinking makes sense. They've already proven that they can react to each other's actions in near perfect harmony with very little.

"That and you seem to have a knack for picking really intense and life threatening missions. So sticking with you should be more fun and exciting."

Really; Natsu wanted to work with him in the hopes that he'll pick out more exciting missions. He couldn't do it. He couldn't hold it in any more. After hearing the second part of Natsu's reasoning, Mystogan couldn't contain his laughter. To him, the pinkette's words were quite possibly the strangest, dumbest and funniest thing Mystogan has ever heard. In his short life, he couldn't remember the last time he's genuinely enjoyed himself this much. It took less than minute for to regain his composure, mostly.

"Fine; you convinced me, I'll be a part of this team. But I have one condition. You can't expect me to always pick out jobs where cataclysmic events are a possibility." Mystogan said, his grin was almost big enough to compete with Natsu's

"Awesome! What about you Sayla?" the pinkette asked the demon of the group. Though, he had a hunch that he already knew the answer.

"How could I say no? The three of working together would certainly make for an interest story." Sayla answered, feeling just as happy about this decision as her teammates.

"Alright first thing tomorrow, we'll go to the guild and make it official. But first we got to celebrate."

"You're just using this as an excuse to make extra food, aren't you?" Sayla asked with a knowing grin.

"I'm offended, like I need a reason for to make extra food." Natsu said as he started walking towards his house with his teammates following closely behind.

"No, no you don't" the demoness could help but giggle at the pinkette's actions.

"What did I get myself into?" Mystogan asked jokingly as he shakes his head.

"I have a feeling we're going to be asking that a lot," Sayla replied

 **Finally, the Edolas chapter is over. Damn, this is by far the longest chapter I've written. It certainly turned out to longer than I thought it was going to be. Originally I was going to break this chapter up into two smaller chapters but I just couldn't find a place that seemed like the right place to stop. Hopefully no one has a problem with this. If so, I'll try to break up future long ass chapters.**

 **Before going any farther, I want to clear up the confusion for anyone that has questions with the timeline in this chapter. When I started writing this chapter I didn't bother to re-watch the Edolas arc because of how much of it I changed. One thing I wanted to keep though was that time flowed differently in Edolas and Earthland. In hindsight I really should have at least watched the last couple episodes of the arc because I completely forgot what the time difference was. If I remember correctly, which is questionable at best, a couple minutes to a few hours in Earthland is about two or three days in Edolas. I really wanted to build up tension without making it seem like Lily was jumping the gun to much so I extended the time difference to about an hour or two in Earthland is about five or so days in Edolas. If anyone needs any further explaining then feel free to PM me your questions and I'll happily answer them when I can.**

 **Anyways, this is one of those chapters that I've been planning for since before this story started. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to give Natsu a new team. And having him putting on a team with Mystogan and Sayla gives me a lot of options for how I can approach fights for future chapters. Also I didn't want to let everything with Edolas take place in between chapters because than I would feel like that would be passing up a lot of opportunities. One problem though is that I don't have a team name yet. I did come up with a terrible place holder name that I will be making fun of in the chapter, but I want a better name. So if anyone has a suggestion, I would love to hear it. But for now it's going to be one bad team name after another.**

 **On a related side note, the team mentioned above won't be the only team Natsu will be a part. There will be other people/teams Natsu will work with for certain chapters and arcs. In fact the next chapter will have a very obvious hints towards who will make up one of those teams.**

 **Thank you to everyone one that continues to read, follow, favorite, and reviewed so far. Last I checked this story just passed a couple mile stones. As of when I'm writing this, there are: 20,413 views, 331 favorites, and 412 follows.**

 **Like always, what did all of you think of the chapter? Loved it, hated it, think it was way too long, let me know what you think. Also if you have any questions then feel free to leave a review or send me a PM and I'll answer your questions as soon as I can.**

 **Till next time**

 **Mreh**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: New Acquaintances**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

Fear. At the moment, fear is the only emotion he could feel. It all happened so fast. One minute, he and his friends were hanging out in their hideout, celebrating their most recent heist, and the next minute everything went to hell. Almost literally for a couple of his friends judging from how they were screaming. Sure they were bandits, but they never seriously injured anyone. They only beat up anyone who was dumb enough to get in their way.

'What the hell happened back there? There's no way those kids could have been human.' The bandit thought as he ran as fast as possible away from the hideout. While he saw everything that happened right before fleeing, he couldn't make sense of what he saw. The easiest to process was the pink haired boy that was beating the hell out of everyone within arm's reach. It just didn't make sense to the bandit how such a young kid could be so much stronger and faster than fully grown adults.

What he saw next confused the bandit even more. Each one of his comrades that were about to attack the pinkette either knocked themselves out or started fighting each other. He could tell that his friends were doing everything they could to try to stop themselves. That's when he saw a young girl with long black hair sitting on the bar reading a book. She looked as if the chaos going on around her was just an everyday thing. He had a feeling that she was the one that was controlling his friends. He wanted to get her to stop somehow to at least give him and his friends a fighting chance, but he had this feeling that doing so would be a terrible decision.

At one point everyone that wasn't knocked realized that staying in their hideout isn't a safe option anymore. They tried to escape but that didn't work out how they thought it would. As soon as most of them reached an exit, they fell to the ground screaming bloody murder while also pleading for mercy from some sort of creature that wasn't there. Who was doing this, he didn't know or care. He had to get out. Everyone there is already a lost cause. There's no reason why he should have to share their fate.

By some stroke of "luck" he managed to escape the hideout. He didn't know how long he was running for; he just knows that he didn't run far enough. Stopping to catch his breath, the bandit leans against a nearby tree. There were too many things going through his head to make sense of.

"Oh man, I think we lost them." Someone off to the side said.

"God I hope so" the bandit replies without looking at the person talking to him.

"What the hell happened back there?"

"I don't know. Everything went to hell so fast. There's no way those kids were actual kids. They had to be monsters."

"They have to be, how else can you explain what happened."

The bandit had to agree. There's no way some ordinary kids were capable of taking out their entire group by themselves. If it wasn't for the fact those monsters were busy with his friends than they could have gotten him to.

That's when realization struck. When the bandit escaped, he had left all of his friends behind with those kids. While running, he had turned to look behind him multiple times to make sure he wasn't followed and didn't see any of his friends following him.

'Oh god, no. Please no.' The bandit thought to himself as he turned deathly white. Slowly turning to see who he was talking to, he somehow became even paler at the sight of three kids standing. Two of them he instantly recognized from his hideout while the other one he could only assume was the one responsible for his friend's sudden freak out.

As he made eye contact with them, two of the three kids had the most maniacal smug grins he's ever seen plastered across their faces. The last of the kids had his face covered with a couple of bandannas, but even then he could tell that he was grinning just like the other two little monsters. He could practically feel it.

"Time" the pinkette asked without breaking eye contact with the bandit.

"Two minutes and nineteen seconds," the masked boy replied after looking at a stop watch that appeared out of nowhere.

"That means I win" the brunette girl says rather smugly, making both of the boys with her groan in protest.

The bandit had absolutely no idea what was going on and he didn't care. His only focus is to get out of there without going through what his friends had. Unfortunately for him there really weren't any options available to him. Fighting was out of the question given what he's seen so far. He could try running away again, but given how quickly they caught up to him without seeming the least bit tired killed that plan. "I give up!" he yells as he holds his hands up. Realistically, this was by far the only option he had. He just has to hope that these little monsters are feeling merciful.

"What do you guys think? Should we let him get off that easily?" the pinkette asked.

"Well, he did give up instead of fighting us. Then again, he did abandon his friends and make us chase after him." The brunette said as she thought what to do.

"Keep in mind that we did let him escape on purpose" Mystogan added, reminding the others that they let this bandit escape so that they could make bets on how long it would take for him to realize that he didn't actually escape. Turning his attention back to the bandit, the masked mage remembered that they still have a job to finish. "That being said, I have a great idea for what we should do with him."

There was something in the masked kid's eyes that scared the bandit. When he saw the shit eating grin that the other two kids had, he knew that whatever this idea was it involved nothing good for him. "Oh god no," he squeaked out.

 **5 Minutes Later**

"You were right, this is a great idea." Sayla said from the front of the wagon her group was riding in.

"You say that like you were expecting me to come up with something stupid," Mystogan said from his spot next to the demon.

"It wouldn't be the first time or did you already forget about that job in the Valem Swamps?"

"You're never going to let me live that one down, are you?" Mystogan said, rolling his eyes as he already knew the answer.

"Of course not," Sayla said as she turned her attention to Natsu, who was on her other side. Thanks to his motion sickness, he was one of the two people that hated Mystogan's plan. Thankfully for him, Sayla was nice enough to let him rest his head in her lap to make the trip more bearable for him. "How are you doing Natsu?" she asked.

While he wasn't an unhealthy shade of green like any other time he's on anything that's moving, it's clear that Natsu was struggling to not vomit everything he has eaten recently. "A little better. Thanks for that by the way. But please, throw me off of this thing."

"Sure, right after we get to town." Sayla replied, enjoying the upset groan she got from the pinkette.

"Damnit. Can you at least kill Mystogan for coming up with this stupid plan" he asks in a childish tone, earning a giggle from the demon girl. "Please"

"Quit being a baby, we should be arrive in town in half an hour," Mystogan said as he rolled his eyes at the pinkette's behavior. "Look on the bright side, you're not him," he said as he pointed to the remaining bandit that is pulling the wagon carrying them as well as the rest of the bandits that are beaten and unconscious in the back.

The bandit that was pulling the wagon is by no means are large person. At most, he probably weighed a hundred pounds soaking wet. The fact that he was able to move the wagon at all is surprising itself. Then again, his options were to either pull the wagon to the nearest town by himself or get beaten to bloody pulp by all three of the kids that effortlessly took down his entire group of bandits by themselves. "You three little bastards must be demons." The bandit mutters to himself, having lost count of how many times he has repeated that line of thought today. He was just loud enough

"You know, he's not entirely wrong" Mystogan whispers to his teammates, getting them to nod in agreement.

 **A Short Time Later**

"And that's another successful mission for team Hidden Demon Dragon" Natsu says happily as him and his team walk through the streets of the town where they delivered the bandits to.

"While I share in your sentiment, I still refuse to let that be our team name" Mystogan said as he tried to suppress a shudder at the mere mention of that wretched team name.

"Why? It's an awesome name." Natsu whined. Ever since they officially formed a team a couple weeks ago, he's been pushing that name to no success.

"No it isn't" Sayla chimed in. Agreeing with Mystogan, the demon really hated that name. The name seemed like the pinkette just picked a random word to describe the three of them and put them together. Additionally it also gave away that at least one member of their team is a demon, something that Makarov specifically told them not to do. And given that it's well known that Natsu is a dragon slayer, more so than a Devil Slayer, and Mystogan has a reputation of being very reclusive; it became fairly obvious who the demon part was referring to. "Out of all the stories I have heard of, I have never heard of one with a name that terrible," it also didn't help that name just wasn't that good to begin with.

"It's not fair, it's such an awesome name," Natsu grumbled to himself; causing his teammates to roll their eyes at his whining.

As they walked through the streets, they started to notice that someone was following them. More specifically; they were being followed by two young boys that seemed to be the same age as Wendy.

"Have you guys noticed them yet?" Natsu asked quietly, trying to act as discreet as possible.

"You mean those two kids that have been following us" Sayla answered, her tone matching the pinkette's. "They've been following us for a few minutes now. What do you think they want?"

"No idea, but I know one thing about them; they're dragon slayers." The pinkette said, getting surprised looks from his teammates.

"Really, how can you tell?" Mystogan asked only to get an answer in the form of Natsu pointing towards his nose. "That answers that. What do you want to do next, should we introduce ourselves?"

"How about we have some fun first," Natsu said as he began grinning from ear to ear. Hearing those words caused both of his teammates to start grinning as well. Sure they were about to mess with some kids that were probably too young to know better. Most people would feel bad about doing such a thing. Well, some would feel bad, for a bit.

Quickly turning a corner, the trio prepared their afternoon of fun.

 **A Short Distance Away**

"Come on Rogue, they went that way!" A blonde boy said as he pulled his friend along with him. He a scar going over his right eye brow and is wearing a white shirt with an orange vest and blue shorts

"I saw where they went! Can you stop dragging me Sting?!" Rogue yelled as he tried to free himself from his friends grip. He has black hair and is wearing a grey long sleeved shirt and black pants.

"What's so special those guys anyways?" a small exceed with red fur asked.

"That's because the guy with the pink hair is dragon slayer. And he smells like a fire pit meaning that he is a fire dragon slayer. Lector, how many Fire dragon slayers have you heard of."

"Just one, Natsu Dragneel"

"Exactly, which means that must be him." Sting said excitedly.

"Why do you want to meet this guy so much?" asked Rogue as he continued to struggle to get out of the blonde's grip. "Seriously, can you stop dragging me already! I can walk on my own."

"Haven't you heard any of the stories about him? He's supposed to be ridiculously strong," he said excitedly before turning his attention towards Lector. "Besides, you know that it's my goal to surpass him."

"Fine, if you're that excited to meet him than let's hurry up and get this over with," Rogue said as he finally freed himself from the blonde's grip.

"I knew you'd come around eventually"

"Only because I knew you would keep dragging me around if I didn't" Rogue said as he shot Sting a dirty look.

"Come on, don't look at me like that. This is going to be awesome."

"Frosch thinks so to" another exceed happily said. Unlike Lector this exceed has green fur and is wearing a pink frog onesie.

Seeing the trio they were following turn a corner down an alley, both slayers and their exceeds rush to catch up before they lose them. They were hoping to see the trio. Instead there wasn't a trace of them to be seen.

"Where did they go?!" Sting nearly yells out.

"Maybe they figured out that there being followed and booked it," Rogue stated plainly

"Come on, we got to catch up to them!" Sting yells as starts running down the alley, dragging Rogue behind him with Lector and Frosch struggling to keep up.

"Damnit! Why do you keep dragging me everywhere?!"

"No time to explain, let's go"

On the rooftops above the alley were watching the commotion below them. To say they were entertained would be putting it lightly.

"Well, this is going to be more fun than I thought," Sayla said as the younger dragon slayers run down the alley.

"Am I the only one that finds it strange that they didn't bother to try to find our scents?" Mystogan asked.

"You would that would've been the first thing they try," The first thing any dragon slayer is taught when it comes to tracking is how to follow a scent. Any decent dragon slayer could easily follow the faintest smells for miles around. Then again those to Slayers are fairly young. "So how long do you guys think we could keep this up for?" Natsu asks excitedly.

"Long enough"

 **4 Hours Later**

It's been four hours. Four long hours of chasing after every lead they found on the trio that had vanished. From one end of the town to the other they searched. Behind every building, under every stone. Sting and Rogue searched everywhere. They didn't just chase after where they think the trio went. They stopped and asked every person that would hear them out.

The first group of "people" they asked consisted a group of shadowy figures with a physical forms. Sting was just happy to get a lead. Rogue on the other hand was confused how his blonde friend didn't bother to question the shadows in front of them.

The next group consisted of actual people, though their behavior was concerning to say the least. Their movements, actions, and even the way they spoke made the people seem as though they were marionettes. They all pointed in the same direction at the same time while everything they said was perfectly in synch with each other.

Once again, Sting didn't show the slightest interest in what he saw. Rogue for his part, was trying to figure out what was happening only to be stopped as was being dragged away again.

Out of everyone they came across, the most helpful one they met was an unusually tall guy wearing a trench coat.

 **Flashback**

"Excuse me sir, have you seen a group of three kids running around here" Sting asked as approached the stranger. Rogue was behind the blonde, rolling his shoulder to make sure it was still in the right place.

The stranger they approached looked unusual to say the least. He was wearing an oversized trench coat and hat that seemed like it was a few sizes too big. It wasn't just his body that was covered up; the stranger hid his face behind a pair of sunglasses and blue bandanna. Strangely enough, he also had a rather impressive mustache resting on top of the bandanna.

"Why yes I have, in fact I just saw those kids you're looking for head towards the train station. If you hurry, you may catch up to them." the stranger said melodramatically.

"Really, thanks mister," Sting says as he rushes off in the direction the stranger pointed, both exceeds chasing after him in an attempt to keep up with the hyperactive blonde.

Rogue on the other hand stares at the stranger quizzically for a few moments as if analyzing him. For a moment, the stranger was starting to think that he'd been found out. "You sir, have a really impressive mustache," Rogue said, finally breaking the silence as turned to chase after Sting.

Seeing the younger dragon slayer run down the street, Sayla jumps off the roof of a nearby building where she watched everything happen. "Seriously, how did both of them fall for that stupid disguise?"

"What are you talking about? This disguise is amazing," Natsu said as he sticks his head through the middle of the coat.

"I agree with Natsu on this one, this disguise is absolutely genius," Mystogan says, causing his fake mustache to move with each word.

Sayla just gives them a blank look. She isn't upset or angry at the idiots before her, she's just disappointed. "Come on, let's go before those kids accidentally get on a train," Sayla says she starts to make her way towards the younger dragon slayers.

"We're using this disguise again, right?" Natsu asks as he looks up at Mystogan.

"Definitely"

 **Flashback End**

After all that time they spent running around town, both dragon slayers were on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion. Over the last four hours, they spent almost the entire time trying to catch up to the group they were chasing after with little to no time spent catching their breath. Even Frosch and Lector were out of breath and spent most of the time clinging onto either Sting or Rogue.

"Damn," Sting says as he leans against a wall, trying to catch his breath. "I think we lost them," he says dejectedly.

Kneeling besides the blonde, Rogue silently agreed with his friend. They spent hours chasing after the trio and not once since they disappeared have they so much as caught a glimpse of them. It seemed like no matter where they were, the trio were at least a few steps ahead of them. "At least we can say we tried, though it's still annoying that we couldn't find them."

"Come on guys, you can't give up yet" Lector said as he looked at the upset dragon slayers, trying to find some way to cheer them up.

"Frosch thinks so too"

"There has to be something you two can do. Can't you know, find there scent or something?" Lector asked.

Hearing that causes both dragon slayers to stare blankly at the red Exceed or what seemed like a little bit too long. "Damn, why didn't we try that?" they said in unison as they slam their fists into their palms. Taking a few seconds to sniff their surroundings, they try to find a scent that will give them even the slightest trace to chase after. After some sniffing around, what they found nearly caused them both of to turn their heads so fast towards the roof of the building they were leaning against that it is a surprise that neither of them snapped their necks in doing so. What they saw left them utterly dumbfounded.

Sitting on the edge of the roof, they saw the same trio they have been chasing after. Each one of them had a look of amusement on their faces. Excluding the one that had his face covered.

"About time you two actually used your noses," Natsu said, sounding slightly smug with that remark.

Hearing that caused both of the younger dragon slayers' faces to turn bright red in embarrassment. They're dragon slayers dammit, their noses were supposed to be only second to dragons themselves.

"And it only took you to four hours to realize it." Mystogan said as he jumped off the roof. "That being said, thanks to you two, I won a bet."

"Dammit! I lost again!" Natsu yells out, feeling incredibly frustrated that he lost another bet today.

"Get over it, you only lost two bets today," Sayla said, her voice making it clear that she is use to the pinkette reacting the way that he is. "You've lost more bets than that in a shorter amount of time."

"That's not helping" Natsu said as he jumped off the roof to the ground.

"It wasn't meant to, you did lose after all," Sayla says smugly as she jumps off the roof. The only response she got from the pinkette was him grumbling to himself in frustration.

"You guys knew we were following you?" Sting asked, not knowing what he should be feeling at the moment.

"Yep"

"Pretty Much"

"Exactly"

"How did you guys know?" Sting asks, starting to feel more exasperated now. Natsu just responded by pointing at his nose, resulting in the blonde understanding what he was implying.

"To be fair, you guys weren't that subtle to begin with" Sayla chimed in. "We figured out you two were following us almost immediately from how much noise one of you were making."

"That aside, do you guys mind telling us who you are and why you're following us?" Natsu asked. The trio had already had enough fun at their expense. It's time to get some answers.

"I'm Sting Eucliffe and this is Lector," Sting says as gestures towards the red Exceed that had just climbed up on his shoulder.

"I'm Rogue Cheney and this is Frosch" Rogue says as he picks up his exceed companion.

"Why is it that all of you dragon slayers have Exceeds?" Mystogan quietly asks as he looks at the bipedal cats.

"Seems like it," Natsu chimes in. "Now we know who you are, mind telling us why you were following us?"

"Short answer, Sting wanted to meet you," Rogue answered as he pointed his thumb at the blonde. "And he literally dragged me along"

"Hey! You make it seem like I just drag you around everywhere," Sting whined.

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"That's just mean"

"So what makes me so special that would make you want to meet me?" Natsu asks, sure he is known for being absurdly strong for a mage his age, none of the rumors he's heard include anything too special about the pinkette.

"My dad told me a lot of stories about a dragon named Igneel and how he is one of the strongest dragons that he has ever met. He also told me that Igneel trained a dragon slayer himself. Since Weisslogia said that Igneel is a Fire dragon and I heard that you have a really rare type of Fire Magic. I wanted to find you and find out if you are Igneel's son." Sting explained.

"That's quite a guess, but it's a good one. I was trained Igneel," Natsu said as thought about what Sting said. From what he's heard, the blonde had a hunch at best. Anyone else would have thought of it as nothing more than mere coincidence. 'Man, this kid really knows how to listen to his gut. Not to mention he's ridiculously lucky for a guess as outrageous as that to be correct,' Natsu thought to himself. "Ok, what about you?" the pinkette asks Rogue.

"Eh, not really. Don't get me wrong; it's cool meeting another dragon slayer and all, but it's not that big of a deal to me," Rogue explains as he shrugs his shoulders. "In truth, ever since we met, Sting always ends up dragging me along where ever he goes."

"Sounds a lot like a certain someone that I know," Sayla said as her and Mystogan started staring blankly at Natsu.

"I wonder if Natsu and Sting are actually long lost brothers." Mystogan jokingly asked, not expecting anyone to answer him.

"At least it seems like you don't have to worry about ever being bored." Natsu said in an attempt to ignore his teammates comments.

"Bored, never. Annoyed, more often than I like." Rogue replied, ignoring the "Hey," that came from Sting

"Well, now that you got your answers, what's next for you two?" The pinkette asked.

"Odds are I'll just end up getting dragged into whatever Sting thinks up next" Rogue answers.

"Now that I've met you, I need to start training so that I can get stronger than you." Sting answers, the determination in his voice was clear as day for all to hear. The grin plastered across his face further cemented what they heard.

"So you want to surpass me huh?" Natsu asks as he grins at the younger dragon slayer's conviction.

"Damn right! I made a promise that I'm going to be the strongest dragon slayer there is."

"And beating me will make that promise a reality?"

"If not, then it's at least a step in the right direction."

Natsu couldn't help but laugh at what he's hearing. From the way Sting is talking, everything he said he is going to do seemed as though it was set in stone. It wasn't too long ago when Natsu had said something similar to Igneel. "Then I look forward to whenever you decide to challenge me. How much has Weisslogia taught you?"

"He taught me all the basics. But he didn't have enough time to teach me much more beyond that though" Sting said as his face took on a sorrowful expression. An expression that was shared by Rogue.

"What do you mean by him not having enough time? Did he disappear to?" Natsu asked as he saw how both of the younger dragon slayers reacted the question; it was similar to how Wendy reacted when he asked her the same thing. But he had a gut feeling that he would get a completely different answer from these two.

"Our dragons died before they could take our training any further" Rogue answered as started to hold onto Frosch a little tighter.

Words couldn't accurately tell how shocked Sayla and Mystogan were. They were expecting to hear that they were abandoned by their dragons.

"Sorry to hear that. What happened to them?" Mystogan asked. Before either of the younger dragon slayers; one of the shingles on the roof the trio were previously on smashed into his head. Looking it the broken shingle on the ground; Mystogan glares at Sayla, knowing that she was the one that caused it to crash into head.

"They were really sick. They… they asked us to kill them." Sting answered, looking as though he was doing everything he could to hold back the tears. Rogue was having just as much trouble as his blonde friend.

Hearing this caused Sayla to stop herself from chastising her teammate for his tactless question. She'll have to settle for "having a talk" with him later. Even Mystogan felt bad for his question. The only one that wasn't showing any emotion was Natsu. He's maintained a stern face as he took in everything he heard.

Given that Sting and Rogue already admitted to only learning the basics of their respective magics, there are only a few spells would know of that could kill a dragon. Each of them are spells that would make bloodshed impossible to avoid. This would result in the killer to have blood become a part of their scent. While easy to mistake for most people, picking up on that scent is second nature to dragon slaters.

It's a scent that neither Sting nor Rogue had. Even Natsu couldn't find the slightest stench of blood on either of them. 'Really, out of all the ways to vanish their dragons had to make these two think they killed them,' Natsu thought to himself. "They must have been suffering if they asked you two to kill them. I'm sorry that you two had to do that." He said, trying to mask his anger towards their dragons.

The next few minutes were spent trying to comfort Sting and Rogue. Thanks to their exceeds, it didn't take too long.

"So what you guys going to do now?" Natsu asked in attempt to change the topic. "I know you said that you're going to train, but do you two have anywhere to stay." He asked, his tone showing some concern.

"No, we'll be fine though." Rogue answers

"Yeah, we're dragon slayers! We can stay anywhere and be just fine." Sting follows up, earning a chuckle from the trio.

"I'm sure you two can. I have a different idea though. Why don't guys come with us to Magnolia. You guys can stay at my place and I can help you two out with your magic." Natsu says, getting shocked looks from both dragon slayers. Even their exceeds were surprised.

"You would do that for us?" Rogue asks.

"Of course, I would happy to help you guys out. In fact, I've been helping out another dragon slayer that I met months ago. What about you Sayla? You ok with letting them stay with us."

"Of course, plus I think Wendy would enjoy having more dragon slayers her age to train and spend time with," Sayla said as she gave the pinkette a warm smile.

"Oh man, I can't believe you're this awesome." Sting says excitedly, his eyes filled stars.

"Well get used to it, Natsu has a real knack for taking in free loaders." Mystogan says jokingly, resulting in a couple more shingles to smash into his head.

"What about Frosch and Lector? Can they come too?" Rogue asks worryingly as he looks at the exceed in his hands.

"Don't worry, they can come to." Natsu answers as he makes a mental reminder to kick Mystogan's ass for that freeloader comment. "Exceeds are too awesome to leave behind."

"Awesome, when do we leave?" Sting asks, grinning ear to ear.

"Um," Natsu stops to remember when their train was supposed to arrive. Unfortunately for the trio the train was scheduled to arrive and depart three hours ago. They were having so much fun messing with Sting and Rogue that they lost track of time. "We missed our train… didn't we?" Natsu asked sheepishly, he already knew the answer even though he already knew the answer.

"Yes, we're going to need to wait for the next one." Mystogan answers begrudgingly. Like Natsu, he really didn't want to admit they missed the train because they were busy having some fun. And like the pinkette, he didn't want to admit for the same reason.

"Don't worry; I already looked at the train schedule while we were hiding at the train station." Sayla says as smiling smugly at her teammates. She loved situations like this, it just gave her the perfect opportunity to tease them. And given that she already won one of their bets today, it's safe to say that today is turning out to be a good day for the demon. "I already bought the tickets but we'll need to buy a couple."

"Thanks Sayla," Mystogan and Natsu said begrudgingly. They really hated days like this. Sayla isn't the type to make them do anything unreasonable or absurd. What she'll do is spend the day reminding her teammates that she won. Sayla knew exactly what to say to mess with them. Additionally, she's patient and willing to wait for just the right moment to mess with them.

"I guess Sayla must be the responsible one of this group," Rogue chimes in, causing both Natsu and Mystogan to hang their head even lower.

"Frosch Thinks so to"

"That's not helping!" Mystogan and Natsu yell out simultaneously.

"Calm down you two. And yes Rogue, I am the mature and responsible one." Sayla says as she smugly smiles at team once again, resulting in them glaring angrily at them. "We have a couple hours before the next train arrives, why don't we get something to eat while we wait."

"Sounds great," Natsu and Sting say at the same time, Mystogan and Rogue just silently agreed.

 **Time Skip: Two Weeks**

Things have been going great in the time since Sting and Rogue joined Fairy Tail. Sting's wild and hyper personality blended incredibly well with wild antics of the guild and Rogue got along nicely with calmer members.

To no one's surprise Sting, Rogue and Wendy got along tremendously. If they weren't training, the three dragon slayers were usually playing some type of game. Usually it would be either Wendy or Sting that had been coming up with something to do while Rogue was dragged along.

Their living arrangements took some time to get squared away. They spent the first week in having to sleep in Natsu's living room. Additionally they also had to help Natsu build a couple extra bedrooms. Making the renovations by himself when Wendy first moved was more of a pain than he would admit to. Building Sayla's room wasn't an inconvenience since he had already built a guest bedroom and gave it to her.

While a hassle at times, the three dragon slayers manage to complete the renovations without to many problems. There were a few times where Natsu felt it necessary to beat some sense into Sting and Rogue, but that was just a precursor for what the younger dragon slayers could expect once they start getting farther into their training.

Speaking of training, it wasn't too hard for Sting and Rogue to adapt to Natsu's training. Unlike Wendy, they had actually been trained in how to fight. The best part of it was that the three younger dragon slayers had the best sparring partner they could get. Each other.

In all honesty, there is no one more proud of that turnout than Makarov. Seeing those three train together and learn from Natsu reminded him of what Fairy Tail is. A family that helps each other grow. "That damn brat never seizes to amaze me," He quietly says to himself, grinning as he couldn't help but be proud for the kind of person Natsu is becoming.

"What did you say Gramps?" Natsu asks as he approaches the bar.

"Nothing important my boy. I'm just thinking out loud to myself."

"Sure you're not just going senile old man?" Natsu jokingly asked.

Even Makarov couldn't but laugh at that light hearted insult. He knew that this is just the usual banter between him and Natsu. He knew the pinkette well enough to know he's just joking. "You cheeky little brat. I'll have you know that even though I may be several decades older than you; my mind is as sharp as ever."

"Sure whatever you say Gramps, go ahead and deny it all you want"

" **Attention all citizens, Gildart's shift is about to take effect. Please move to your designated areas."** A voice coming from a loud speaker said, followed shortly by a loud siren.

"Ahhh; Gramps, what the hell is that?!" Natsu asked as he clutched his ears, the siren proving to be too much for him. Unfortunately, he was dealing with it the best when compared to the other dragon slayers.

"What's that sound!?"

"Please make it stop"

"Ahhh, my ears"

"Please calm down children, the siren will end shortly." Makarov said reassuringly. Sure enough, less than a minute later the siren came to an end. Hearing the siren end, everyone felt the ground begin to shake. "To answer your question; that siren is the Gildart's Shift. It is a warning to everyone to get to safe location." He said as he began he gestured towards the bartender to get another pint of beer ready.

"The Gildart's Shift is a transformation this town undergoes to form a direct path to the guild. It is a path meant for our guild's ace, Gildarts." The guild master explained.

"Why would the town need to rearrange itself?" Natsu asked, the idea that entire town would undergo something like this for a single person.

"That's because Gildarts is a total airhead," Mira answers as she approaches the pinkette. "It's pretty normal for him to walk into a building and accidentally walk into a building and destroy it."

"Really?" Natsu asked incredulously.

"Unfortunately yes, Gildarts magic is incredibly difficult to control. If he is not careful he could easily destroy Magnolia." Makarov answers as he thinks back on all the damage the guilds ace has caused over the years. "The fact that he has as much control as he does truly speaks volumes of his skill as a mage."

As they were talking Natsu could tell that someone powerful was getting closer. One of the demons he trained under forced the pinkette to learn how to hide his magical presence. After learning how to hide to presence, Natsu learned how determine how much of a mage's presence they are concealing. While it's mostly based on a hunch, the pinkette knew how much to trust his gut in situations like this.

Whoever this Gildarts is, he's a ridiculously powerful mage. Even the teachers Natsu trained under would recognize the ace as powerful mage.

As the presence drew closer, or the lack of a presence, the older members of the guild began staring towards the door. Following suit, each of the younger members started staring at the door in anticipation. Almost as if on cue, the wall next to the door blew up into a mass of cubes.

Looking on in amazement, most of the younger members were awed at the display while the older members were just smirking at the destruction. Through the destruction a tall muscular with slicked back orange hair and some stubble on his face. For clothes he's wearing a tattered black cloak, loose fitting dark pants, a dark blue t shirt and some simple boots.

"Dammit Gildarts! How many times do I have to tell you to use the door?!" Makarov yelled from the bar. He knew this would happen yet it still gets on his nerves that he has to remind an adult to use a door.

"Sorry master, it just slipped my mind," Gildarts apologized sheepishly as he approached the bar.

"At least try to remember next time ok," Makarov said, sighing as he knew this was going to happen again. More than likely it will happen a couple more time today. If he's lucky, it will only happen a couple more times. Putting that frustrating line of thought to the back of his mind; the old man hand a beer to the ace. "Enough of that, how was your mission my boy?" Makarov happily asked.

"It was a success, it was even a little challenging at times," Gildarts answered as he happily accepted the bear. "Though I gotta say, it's good to be home."

"Then why don't we start celebrating your safe return." Makarov stated loudly, resulting in a round of cheers coming from everyone in the guild.

In the next instant the guild erupted into the usual chaos that is their celebrations.

"So you're the Gildarts," Natsu said as he approached the guild's ace.

"Yeah, that's me. And who might you be?" Gildarts asked as he looked the pinkette. Something about the kid in front of him made him curious.

"Gildarts, this is Natsu. He joined the guild a few months ago" Makarov introduced the pinkette.

"Well it's good to meet you Natsu. How are you enjoying our guild?" Gildarts asked.

"It's great," Natsu answered honestly. "Though, I have something that I want to ask you."

"Ok, what do you want to know?"

"Can I fight you?" Natsu asked, shocking both Makarov and Gildarts.

"You want to fight me?"

"Of course, I want to see how strong you are." Natsu isn't the only curious about that. Since joining, very few people have the pinkette fight seriously. Even his fight against Erza and Mira, he only needed to use a couple spells.

Makarov had a better idea than most because of what he's learned from talking with Natsu and the reports from his jobs. Honestly, this opportunity is ideal for the master to determine what kind of jobs the pinkette would be best suited for.

"What do you think Master?" Gildarts is used to being challenged to fights. There's never a shortage of overly confidant mages that want to prove themselves. However, the mages the ace was used to fighting have almost been exclusively adults. There have been a few older teens to challenge Gildarts, but Natsu is by far the youngest person to want to fight him.

"I see no problem with you two fighting. I'm actually curious to see how well Natsu would do in a fight against an S Class mage."

That caught Gildarts attention. Makarov wouldn't let any of his mages to get into a situation he didn't believe they were capable handling. It took no time for Gildarts to figure out what Makarov wanted to find out. "Seems like it's your lucky day kid."

"Given how destructive you two are by yourselves, we should move this fight to a safe distance away from the guild." Makarov said as he started making his way towards one of the many sparring areas.

Hearing about the fight that was about take place, everyone in the guild rushed to place their bets.

The sparring area is a nice open grassy field. It provides plenty of room to move and both mages won't have to worry about damages.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Sayla asked Natsu who was getting himself ready for the right.

"Of course," Natsu replied, struggling to contain his excitement.

"You know there's a reason why Gildarts is the ace of the guild? Even if he holds back almost of his strength, this isn't going to be an easy fight." Mystogan followed up.

"I'd be disappointed if it was."

"Well, we tried" Mystogan said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"5,000 on Gildarts," both Sayla and Mystogan tell Cana whose busy taking down bets.

"You traitors!" Natsu yells angrily.

"Don't worry Natsu, I believe in you," Wendy tells the pinkette.

"Thank you Wendy, it's nice to know someone believes in me," Natsu says, pouting at his teammates actions.

"Didn't you just put a thousand down on Gildarts?" Rogue asks the bluenette, causing her to stiffen up

"Come on guys, we know that Natsu's going to kick Gildarts' ass," Sting says excitedly.

'Is it too late to double down on our bets,' both Rogue and Wendy think to themselves. They knew better than to side with any bet Sting is willing to make.

"Don't worry Natsu I know you'll do well," Cana said as she rapped an arm around one of the pinkette's shoulders. She succeeded in raising Natsu's spirts a bit. "But if you can take a dive near the end of the fight that would be great." And like that, his spirts took a nose dive.

"Really, you too?" Natsu asked dejectedly.

"What? I get a cut of the winning bets. Don't worry, I make it up to you later."

"You know what? I don't care anymore. I'm just going to kick Gildarts' ass." Natsu said, tuning everyone out so that he can just focus on the fight.

"Here are the rules of the match," Makarov stated loudly, garnering everyone's attention. As if on cue everyone quieted down and began moving to what Master determined to be a safe distance. The bets were placed, the guild members are waiting in anticipation. "The match will continue until either one or both mages are unable to fight or if I call it to an end. And secondly, neither of you are allowed to use any spells that will cause any long lasting injuries. Other than that, have fun. This is merely friendly sparring match." He finishes as he rejoins the crowd.

"Last chance to back out Natsu," Gildarts said, giving the pinkette a chance to back out.

Staring down the ace, Natsu disappeared from where he was standing only to reappear right in front of the more experienced mage. Not giving Gildarts a chance to react, the pinkette punches him as hard as he could in the stomach, resulting in the ace to skid back a few feet. "No way am I backing out now," Natsu said confidently.

His eyes widening in shock, Gildarts was shocked by how fast the pinkette is. It's then that he realized that Natsu's confidence stems from actual skill and not some arrogance that lesser experienced mages often suffer from. "You know, you just gave away the element of surprise?" The ace said, looking forward to seeing what else Natsu can do.

"We'll see," Natsu said as he once again disappeared only to reappear in front of Gildarts once again with his fist cocked back.

Instead of making contact, Gildarts easily caught the pinkette's fist. "That won't work a second time," he says before returning the favor by punching Natsu in the gut, sending the pinkette clear across the field.

Sliding to a stop, Natsu coughs up some saliva. 'Finally, a fight I can take seriously.' He thought as he once again dashes towards the ace. **"Fire Fist**! **"** Natsu shouts as he fires a pillar of flames towards the ace.

"So you're a fire mage," Gildarts said as held up his right hand. Before Natsu's attack could make contact, Gildart's hand fills with an ominous white light. A small amount of that light fires off towards the pillar of flames, causing it to break up into a series of cubes before dispelling completely.

Having never seen a spell like that, Natsu was surprised at how easily Gildarts was able to nullify his attack. "What kind of magic is that?" Natsu asked just loud enough for his opponent to hear.

"Sorry kid, I'm not giving up that kind of information just yet. Especially while we're fighting."

"Fair enough," Natsu said as he continued to close the gap between himself and Gildarts. If ranged attacks won't help than the pinkette will have to rely on fighting up close. Covering his fist in more flames, Natsu readies himself for what's to come.

Throwing another punch towards the ace, Gildarts easily sidestepped the punch which gives him more than enough time to once punch the pinkette across the field.

Kicking off his sandals midair, Natsu turns his fingers and toes into claws and stabs them into the ground to slow him down. Once more rushing towards Gildarts, Natsu is determined to land a hit.

Releasing a barrage of punches, Natsu realizes that not only is Gildarts stronger but faster too. Every punch was either easily dodged or effortlessly deflected. What's more infuriating is that Natsu could tell that the ace's speed is entirely natural. With both the strength and speed advantages were belonging to Gildarts, Natsus going to have to find a way around it.

Getting knocked away once again, Natsu isn't looking forward to his next plan. Whether it works or not, it's guaranteed to hurt like hell.

Once more rushing the ace, Natsu engulfs his fist in purple and black flames

"Come on Natsu, that tactic isn't going to work just because you keep doing it," Gildarts said, curious to find out what's so special the purple flame he's seeing

" **Fire Devil's Cataclysmic Inferno,"** Natsu yells as he punches the ground in front of Gildarts. Cracks in the ground spread around the two mages.

Seeing the cracks fill with a purple light, Gildarts quickly points his open palm towards the ground. Firing off his magic in an attempt to counter the pinkette's attack, the ground beneath him violently explodes as the two attacks collide. The explosions not only results in a dust cloud being kicked up, but large chunks of rock are sent flying straight into the air.

Using the low visibility to his advantage, Natsu uses this to try to land a few attacks. Rushing Gildarts again, Natsu prepares himself for a series of quick hit and run attacks. The benefit of this plan is that he'll be more likely to actually land a hit. The downside though is that he can't use magic without giving away where he is.

Sensing something about to strike at his side, Gildarts quickly side steps the attack and sees a brief glimpse of a shadow pass him by only for it to disappear a second later. 'So that's his plan, he's using the dust cloud to catch me off guard. He even managed to increase his speed somehow.'

Sensing another attack, the ace once again dodges another attack. Instead of going on the offensive and dealing with the dust cloud right away, he allows Natsu to keep his temporary advantage. Now the fight has turned into a waiting game. All it's going to take is a single miscalculation.

Seeing a potential blind spot, Natsu attempts to attack from above. Bringing his leg down for a devastating axe kick; this would be the first attack the pinkette would manage to land since catching the ace off guard.

"Using your speed and the dust cloud to your advantage was a smart move Natsu, but you made a mistake." Gildarts said as his fist is covered in his magic, staring straight at the pinkette. "You're not fast enough!" he says, dodging the axe kick and upper cutting the pinkette in the jaw in the process. The punch had so much force behind it that the dust cloud had vanished from the subsequent shockwave.

Being sent straight into the air, Natsu kicks off a piece of rock that is still in the air from when their attacks collided earlier. Even without having the dust cloud to provide cover, Natsu is still using the same tactic for his plan. The only difference is that he can use magic again.

This pattern of attacks continued for some time. Every time Natsu tries to land a hit, Gildarts would knock him away. Every time he would get knocked away, Natsu would kick off either the ground or the airborne debris and repeat the process. With each attack, both mages would move faster.

For almost everyone watching, they felt as though they were watching two highly destructive blurs destroying everything around them. The only one that could clearly see what is happening is Makarov. To say that he is impressed with what he's seeing wouldn't be entirely accurate. Seeing Natsu take such a beating at the hand of Gildarts and not let it faze him too much is truly amazing, especially for someone so young. From the moment their attacks collided to the point where Gildarts was knocking Natsu away all happened under a minute. In that time Natsu had been knocked away and use the force and speed to recover and counter dozens of times.

After so much time of repeating this strategy, Natsu had finally found the result he was waiting for. The debris that seemed to be permanently lodged in the air had finally succumbed to gravity and crashed into ground. The ground in where they have been primarily fighting had been deeply cratered beneath them from the force of their attacks. Gildarts remained almost entirely unharmed from their exchange of attacks. Natsu, however; isn't fairing as well as his opponent. At the very least his jaw is cracked and he has at least two or three ribs that are broken.

Despite the punishment that the pinkette had to endure, Natsu managed to punch Gildarts in the face. While it didn't yield many results, it was still a small victory for the pinkette.

"All that for one punch," Gildarts said as he lightly rubbed his jaw.

"Yeah, it's too bad I couldn't land a few more hits on you." Natsu said as he desperately tried to catch his breath. From the beating he's been taking the pinkette could tell that if this keeps up he won't be able to last much longer. "But I was able to learn something important."

"Oh, and what would that be?" Instead of getting an answer, Natsu only responded by disappearing once again. Having seen this move dozens of times now, Gildarts swung his arm to the side to counter the pinkette.

Instead of hitting the pinkette like he thought, Natsu had dodged the arm coming for him and land a hit in Gildarts' side. Sending the ace skidding a few feet, Natsu's fist is engulfed in red and gold flames as gets ready to make the most of the opening. **"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist"** he yells as he once again punches Gildarts in the gut, causing the ace to cough up some saliva.

Trying to follow up once more, Natsu tries to give Gildarts another flaming punch. Unfortunately, the ace was ready for it and caught the pinkette's fist. "Impressive," Gildarts said honestly. To think Natsu would let himself get hit so many times just to find an opening in how the ace moves. "But that's still good enough!" he yells as he punches Natsu harder in the gut than any other time.

Sliding to a stop, Natsu couldn't believe it. He's finally met a normal, relatively at least, that is able to brush off one of his dragon slayer attacks. Everyone else he's used those spells on was at the very least seriously injured. 'Great, now I need a new plan,' Natsu thought as he took in his surroundings.

The field they were fighting in had larger cracks spread throughout the entirety of it. The area where Gildarts had been standing has become deeply cratered from the force of their attacks colliding. Their guild mates had to move even farther back for safety reasons. The only other abnormality is the large chunks of rocks that were sticking out of the ground.

Seeing the rocks, Natsu had another plan. Running towards the rock, the pinkette picks up the rock, which is at least twice his size, and throws it towards Gildarts.

Seeing the rock coming his way, the ace is curious as to what Natsu is thinking of. Natsu knows that any kind of ranged attack is basically useless against him. Raising his hand to destroy the rock, Gildarts notices that Natsu disappeared from where he was. Unfortunately for the pinkette, years of experience had honed the ace's instincts to a ridiculous degree.

Listening to his instincts, Gildarts moves to the side to avoid a punch from behind. Not wanting to give the pinkette a chance to recover, the ace retaliates by delivering a devastating punch infused with his magic to Natsu's stomach, resulting in the younger mage bending in half around the older one's fist.

Time seemed to stay still for a second before the force of Gildart's punch caught up and launched the pinkette high up into the sky.

Once Natsu reaches the apex of his accent, he realizes that he is too far up to land safely. Thinking quickly, Natsu comes up with two options. The first option is to put the fight into the back of mind temporarily to focus on trying to landing safely without hurting himself too much. The second option however is incredibly reckless and is more likely to backfire. 'Well, it's all or nothing,' Natsu thought as he decided what his next course of action will be.

Taking a few seconds to take a few deep breaths, the pinkette takes in a large amount of oxygen. **"Fire Dragon's Roar,"** Natsu yells as a large torrent of flames shoot out of his mouth.

Seeing the massive pillar of flames come from the Natsu's mouth, everyone felt confused at what they were seeing. They all expected to see the flames be pointed towards Gildarts or at the ground. Instead, the flames were aimed straight towards the sky. This caught them off guard since it seemed to increase the speed the pinkette was falling towards the ground

" **Fire Dragon's Roar,"** Natsu yells out again as another torrent of flames fires from the pinkette. As a result, he started to pick up even more speed as a cone started to form around him.

'What the hell is that kid thinking?!' Gildarts thought as he watched the pinkette. Clearly Natsu is preparing for an attack of some sort. But, if Natsu doesn't do anything to start slowing down, he's going to get hurt no matter what happens next.

Gathering a ball of purple flames within his hands, Natsu puts a great deal of energy into the flames. **"Fire Devil's Raining Hell,"** he yells as he throws the ball of flames towards Gildarts. After a few second the attack began to grow rapidly. After a few more seconds the ball of flames explodes, resulting in dozens purple missile like projectiles all racing off towards Gildarts.

'Well, I have to admit that you're persistent if nothing else.' Gildarts thinks as he watches the attack come his way. 'Guess it's time to get a little more serious,'

" **All Crush,"** Gildarts says as an energy blast is fired his hand. Upon coming in contact with Natsu's attack, the energy blast destroys each one of the projectiles, resulting in a wave of explosions littering the sky.

" **Fire Dragon's Roar,"** Gildarts hears the pinkette yell again. Not being able to see the younger mage, the ace could only assume that the pinkette did that to pick up even more speed. He gets an answer a couple seconds later as he sees Natsu shoot through the wall of exploding projectiles like a bat out of hell. This time though; Natsu is facing the ace with his fist cocked back, engulfed in bright red and gold flames.

Of the two options Natsu thought of as he began his decent, the second one was to his situation to his advantage. The point behind firing off the Roars was to dramatically increase his speed. The devil slayer attack was to provide cover for the pinkette to prevent Gildarts for preparing for the next part of the plan.

" **Fire Dragon's,"** Natsu yells as he's rapidly approaching the ace.

"Damn kid, you're even crazier and more reckless than me." Gildarts said as felt genuinely impressed by the pinkette.

" **Iron Fist!"** Natsu finishes as his fist collides with Gildarts own magically coated fist. When their two punches collided, the force of the impact once again caused the earth around them to be blown away. The subsequent shockwave caused the people watching to shield their eyes and brace themselves they felt the shockwave pass right by them.

The two mages were caught in a stalemate for an amount of time. Neither mage backing down in the slightest as they kept pressing their attacks. After so much time passed, their attacks gave way and caused an explosion that engulfs the both of them. As soon as the explosion finally subsides, everyone could see the two mages standing some distance away from each other.

Gildarts remained mostly unharmed with the exception of his hand having some slight burn marks and his clothes being slightly singed.

Natsu; however, was in a significantly worse condition. His right hand is clearly broken along with his arm having multiple fractures that were clearly visible through his skin. In addition there were a few tears in the skin on his arm that were bleeding profusely. His shirt was completely destroyed revealing what kind of state he was in for the majority of the fight. His body was covered in nasty bruises from all the times that Gildarts had knocked him away. Additionlay, Natsu had a couple cuts on his face including one underneath his hairline that had a trail of blood running down the side of his face. The pinkette also had a busted lip with blood pouring from that wound as well.

No one could believe what kind of a beating Natsu had endured. What's more, the pinkette didn't seem the least bit bothered by his condition. He's just standing where he is, holding onto his right arm as he smirks at the ace. At most, the only thing that seemed to be bothering him was how out of breath he is.

"You know, I knew you were strong but I didn't think you were this strong," Natsu compliment the ace as he tried to catch his breath.

"I can say the same thing about you." Gildarts said as he inspected the pinkette, shocked that he's still standing.

"The match is over," Makarov said as he approached the two mages. "I declare Gildarts to be the winner."

"Good fight, I'll get you next time." Natsu congratulated, feeling happy that he finally got a good fight.

"That won't be happening anytime soon," Makarov said sternly. "Now come, we have to treat those wounds immediately."

"Don't worry there not as bad as they seem," Natsu said nonchalantly, engulfing his arm in his green flames. As soon the flames died down, the pinkette's arm appeared to be as good as new. Though; it wasn't until after the flames died down that Natsu remembered the side effect of those flames. "Ow" Natsu squeaked out in an uncharacteristically high pitch voice. The pain from using that spell along with everything that the pinkette had endured during the fight caused Natsu to pass out only moments later.

Makarov could only release a sigh of annoyance at how impulsive and reckless the pinkette is. "I swear, that boy is going to drive me to an early retirement."

"At least you won't be bored," Gildarts said off handedly as he picked up the pinkette. Unlike the master, he was amused by Natsu's actions. "Let's hurry up and get him to the infirmary."

"I'll have someone get Porlyusica; maybe she can beat some sense into the boy." Makarov said, not looking forward to explaining everything to the guild's unofficial healer.

"Yeah, I'm not looking forward to that scolding," Gildarts said, dreading what's coming next. A sentiment that Makarov shared.

"We might as well get a few drinks in us first."

 **And done. Finally, after a couple months a new chapter is finally out. Sorry about the wait, I tried to get this out on the one year anniversary and on Christmas but life and work kept getting in the way. Hopefully the fight with Gildarts will make up for that.**

 **Speaking of which, this story passed the one year anniversary. Like I mentioned, I did make an attempt to update then, but that didn't happen. For that, all I can do is say sorry. Hopefully that won't happen with the next update/anniversary but I'm not going to promise anything.**

 **Also there were a few other reasons why this chapter took so long to get out. Those reasons are other stories that I'm starting to work on. So the next time I update will either be for this story (more than likely) or for one of the new stories I'm working on. We'll find out together.**

 **In the last AN I mentioned that Natsu would be a part of other teams and this chapter would introduce who would make up one of those teams. Well, one of those teams will consist of Sting, Rogue and Wendy. They'll be Team Dragon Slayers, and Natsu will be joining them on occasion.**

 **Like always, thank you to everyone one that continues to read, followed, favorited, and reviewed so far. As of when I'm writing this, there are: 35,031 views, 398 favorites, and 502 follows.**

 **So what did all of you think? Loved it, hated it, wished the fight was a little longer, let me know with a review or by sending a PM. Also, if you have any question whether it regards the story itself or you want to know how progress on the next update feel free to leave a review or send me a PM. If you leave a review I'll reply in the next update and if you PM me I'll reply as soon as I can.**

 **Speaking of which, onto reviews**

 **Potato-overlord1: Thanks for the suggestion. While the name fits and I like it, that name fits a lot better for another team that I have planned.**

 **Scandalf: If it helps, keep in mind that Jellal and Mystogan are going to be treated as two entirely different characters. And having Mystogan around makes a lot of things I want to do more convenient.**

 **That's it for reviews. If you have a suggestion for team names then please let me know by either leaving a review or by PM**

 **Till next time**

 **Mreh**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Crashing Hard**

 **Disclaimer: By now it should be obvious that I don't own Fairy Tail**

As he expected, that plan had backfired. In retrospect, barreling through the sky at speeds fast enough to break the sound barrier just to land a more powerful hit on Gildarts wasn't the best idea to begin with. But damn, how strong does Gildarts have to be to walk away from an attack like that with nothing but a few burns.

Sitting up on the bed he's laying on, Natsu groans as he can still feel the side effects of using his healing flames. Dealing with the pain, the pinkette tries to figure out what else is still hurting. Taking a few breaths and feeling out the ribs that were broken. Touching the sensitive area, he could tell that his ribs were in fact still broken.

Looking down at his stomach and chest, Natsu could see that he still has to deal with a lot of rather nasty bruises. 'Maybe I can get Wendy to heal them, she could use the practice.' Natsu thought as he tried to get out of bed.

As soon as made the attempt, a broom smacked him on the head. "Don't even think about getting out of that bed," A stern voice said. Clutching his head, Natsu glares at an elderly lady with pink hair that is holding a broom.

"Why the hell would you hit someone in an infirmary?! And who the hell are you?!" Natsu asks angrily, only to get hit again with the broom but much harder this time. "OW!"

"That's what you get for being a rude brat! And my name is Porlyusica, that fool Makarov asked me to take care of your wounds," Porlyusica explains while glaring at the younger pinkette, her grip on the broom getting tighter. Natsu didn't know why but that sight terrified him, it reminded him of times when he pissed off Igneel or one of his other teachers. "Now stay still, while I bandage you up."

"Yes Ma'am"

Over the next few minutes, Porlyusica went over Natsu's wounds, bandaging what she could. "Here, drink this. It'll speed up your recovery," she says as she hands the younger pinkette a beaker containing a mysterious liquid.

Not wanting to piss off the healer even more, Natsu quickly complies and drinks it. As soon as he swallows it, he had to hold back the urge to start vomiting. The only way to describe the taste is that it's by far the worst thing Natsu has ever had the misfortune of tasting.

"Quit whining, that's what you deserve for challenging that fool Gildarts to a fight," Porlyusica said as she started packing away her medical supplies. "Now get out of, I'm tired of dealing with you infuriating humans."

"Fine, fine. Thanks for bandaging me up," Natsu said as he made his way to leave the infirmary. "Crazy old hag," he mutters under his breath as he reaches the door. As soon as he opens the door, the beaker the pinkette drank from crashed into the wall next to his head. "Shit!" Natsu yells as he frantically rushes through the door and slams it shut.

Hearing the door to the infirmary slam shut, everyone in the guild turned to the commotion. Seeing the pinkette with a scared look on his face, they immediately knew what happened. For most of them, the first time they met Porlyusica ended in a similar manner. "Natsu!" everyone cheers.

Hearing the cheers, Natsu calms down. One by one, everyone congratulated him on his fight. Making his way through the crowds, the pinkette finds the mage he was looking for.

Sitting at the bar is Makarov and Gildarts, both nursing their drinks with one hand and ice pack in the other pressed against their heads. "Ah; Natsu, it's good to see that you're up." Makarov said as he put his drink down.

"How you are feeling kid?" Gildarts asked.

"Like I just ran over by a train," the pinkette said as he rolled his shoulder. Despite healing his arm after that last punch and Porlyusica giving him that drink, his body was still aching. "What happened to you two?" He asked, gesturing towards their ice packs.

"Let's just say Porlyusica wasn't happy to hear that I let you fight Gildarts," Makarov answered.

"And she was less than pleased that we took the fight as far as we did," Gildarts follows up in tandem. Hearing that, Natsu understood what they meant. It seemed that no one was safe from Porlyusica's broom. "I have to hand it to you though; I don't know many mages willing to take the beating you did just to land a few punches, especially one as young as you."

"What can I say, I'm stubborn like that." Natsu said nonchalantly. "Though I wish it worked better."

"I may not approve of that line of thinking, but I won't deny that it certainly gets results." Makarov said as he reached for his drink. "Still, you should be proud of what you accomplished."

"Thanks Gramps."

"Natsu!" yelled Wendy, Sting, and Rogue simultaneously, with the former two tackling the pinkette in their excitement.

"Ow ow ow," grumbled Natsu, starting to regret not healing his heavily bruised sides. "I'm happy to see you guys to but please let me go," he said as he tried, and failed, to hide how much pain he was in.

"oh, sorry," Wendy said sheepishly as she quickly let go of the pinkette

"You have to teach me how to fight like that," Sting said excitedly, not in the least bothered by the pinkette's obvious discomfort.

"How about I teach you how to fight smart instead" Natsu replied as he rubbed his still aching side. "Trust me, treating yourself like a punching bag is a horrible idea"

"That's a good point, but it would be useful to know how to fight like that for times when it will be necessary." Rogue added. While he hid his excitement better than his blonde friend, anyone could see that he was only barely able to do so. Between them, Rogue was the calmer of the two, frequently choosing to think before acting as opposed to Sting who preferred to act first and react however necessary.

"Let's talk about this later," Natsu replied dismissively. as much as he wanted to argue with the brunette's logic, he knew fighting like that could save their lives. Unfortunately, he also knew how dangerous that training is for it to be practical .

"Come on Natsu, there's no need to be like that," Cana said happily as she wrapped an arm around the pinkette's shoulder. "We should be celebrating," her cheerfulness was infectious as even Natsu began smiling too.

"What's got you so happy" he asked, normally one of the few things that has made the card mage this happy is when she comes across a large sum of money.

"Isn't it obvious; as the person who organized all the bets, I got a nice piece of the winning bets," Cana answered.

"Of course, you did."

"If it makes you feel any better, we were spot on with our bets," Mystogan said as he and Sayla approached the group.

"It definitely made us happy" Sayla followed up happily.

Out of everyone in the guild, apart from Makarov, no one knew what Natsu was fully capable of better than them. They're teammates after all. Given how smart the two of them are, placing the correct bet was easy enough. Becoming the ace of a guild like Fairy Tail is no easy feat. Considering Mystogen's skill at accurately reading magical energy, even latent energy at that, made predicting the outcome a simple task. For Sayla, she simply relied on her intuition. She not only knew just how stubborn Natsu could be when given a difficult task but also how much of a beating he could take. Then again, this fight showed that Natsu was capable of more than she thought possible.

Where their knowledge really came in handy was for how long the fight would last for. For the most part, almost all the bets were on how long the fight would last. Some thought the fight would be over as soon as it started while others thought that it would last all day. It's thanks to their knowledge that they're now sitting on a large some of jewels.

They were both giddy with anticipation at the prospect of what they would do with their winnings. For Sayla, it's obvious what she would do with it. She could already see herself trying to talk Natsu into adding a library onto their house to store the excess books. Mystogan, on the other hand, was trying to figure out what kind of experiment he would be conducting first.

Ever since the masked mage took on a more active role as a part of the guild, he developed a hobby of running various experiments and developing different pieces of equipment. Most people within the guild, especially his team, have taken to jokingly call Mystogan a mad scientist. Though most, except for his team, aren't aware of how accurate that title is.

"Even I managed to win," Morgana chimed in as he landed on Natsu's head, salivating at the thought of how much sushi he could buy.

"Oh, hush you, the only reason why you won anything in the first place is because you waited till after the others placed their bets to place your own." Carla said as she landed in Wendy's arms

"Frosch thinks so to," Frosch adds as she and Lector approach the group.

"If you ask me, a win is a win," Lector said as he hopped onto Sting's shoulder

"At least someone gets it," Morgana said smugly, feeling as though he won this argument.

"I'm glad all of you believed in me from the start, I'm really feeling the love right now," Natsu said sarcastically.

"We believed that you would earn us some jewels, and you surpassed our expectations," Cana said happily with everyone nodding in agreement, resulting in Natsu becoming even more agitated.

"Damnit Natsu, couldn't you have lasted just a little bit longer," Mira said as her and her siblings joined the growing group.

"Don't be like that Mira, Natsu did great," Lisanna chimed in, not wanting to hurt the pinkette's feelings.

"I know, but couldn't you have lasted just a few more minutes," just another five minutes and older take over mage would be sitting on a fat sack of jewels right now.

"You should all be ashamed of yourselves. How could any of you bet on a fight like this." Erza stated, tempting to take the moral high ground. How could any of them openly bet against on of their friends like they have. Especially when said friend performed as well as he did against the 'Ace of Fairy Tail'.

"Erza, you do know I'm the one in charge of the bets, right?" Cana retorted while giving the red head a flat look. The card mage knew exactly what Erza had put down on this fight. "If you want, I could remind you of what your bet was," she finished with a teasing grin.

Being called out on her own hypocrisy, Erza turned a shade of red that rivaled her hair. "I, uh, well I thought… I mean," the knight fumbled over her own words. After all, if everyone else was placing bets and Master was permitting such a thing, then why shouldn't she be able to. Everyone knows how much she loves sweets after all. "I can explain," Erza said weakly as she tried to recompose herself.

No one was buying it if their shit eating grins were anything to go buy.

"I hate all of you," Natsu stated flatly, unamused by all his friend's antics. This only resulted in everyone laughing at the pinkette's dismay. What caring and compassionate friends he has.

And with that the party got back on track. Everyone went back to partying like guild was known for. It was only a matter of time before a brawl broke out.

 **Time Skip**

As the sun began to set, a calmness overcame Magnolia. For most people, it was their favorite time of the day. It's no different for Cana. Not long after the brawl broke out did the card mage sneak away from the guild. She needed time to herself to clear her head of some of the things that occurred during the party.

Unsurprising to no one, both Gildarts and Natsu got along amazingly. Honestly the two had so much in common that the crash mage joked about how the pinkette could be his kid. Most who found it funny added to that statement that it would make sense given how much Gildarts gets around. While amusing, it struck a certain chord with Cana.

Her whole reason for joining the guild in the first place was to find her father. Before she passed away, Cana's mother had told her all about Gildarts and where to find him.

From the moment she laid eyes on him, the card mage felt a connection to the mage. She wanted to tell him who she was to him. The problem was her own fear of how he would react. Cornelia had to leave Gildarts for a reason. While Cana was told what the reason was, she didn't fully comprehend it.

On one hand, it sounded as if her father had left mother for the guild. While on the other hand, Cornelia had left him to spare him from having to choose between herself and the guild. While her mother had enough faith in Gildarts to make the right decision, Cana felt to much fear and trepidation towards how he would react.

Would he accept her as his daughter, or would he reject her? As far Cana was concerned the risk was far to great. It was simply to much for the poor girl.

"Whew, finally got away," a voice said from behind her, bringing Cana back from her thoughts and nearly scaring the life out of her.

"Natsu! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the party?" Cana asked as she tried to regain her senses. While she did enjoy scaring people from time to time, the card mage didn't enjoy being scared nearly as much.

"I was, then Gildarts got drunk," A shiver went up Cana's spine. She's been a part of the guild long enough to know that only trouble ensues when the crash mage gets drunk.

"Oh no, what happened this time?" She dreaded hearing the answer. No matter what, it can't be good.

"He tried giving me 'the talk'"

"Of course, it would be that, you poor thing," Cana groaned out as she rubbed her temple in frustration. If there is one thing that her mother conveniently left out when telling Cana about Gildarts it was how much of a pervert, he is. No, Cana learned the hard way when she accidentally overheard one of his drunken ramblings.

"It's already bad enough that I had to have 'the talk' with a dragon and a demon." Igneel did what he was supposed to do and explain mating to a young Natsu. Though he did a good job in explaining the important stuff, everything else he included was overly excessive. Then again, what should Natsu have expected. Subtly was never something that Igneel was fond of.

If that wasn't bad enough, Igneel felt it necessary to ask one of his demon friends to help in giving Natsu the talk. The Dragon King figured that it would be more appropriate for a demon to have the talk with his son since demons are biologically closer to humans than dragons. Still, the pinkette couldn't understand why his father had to choose a raging pervert for the task. That damned one-eyed bastard, it was weeks before the blush would leave Natsu's face.

"I have a feeling I really don't want to hear this story."

"You have no idea," Natsu said as he tried to repress those memories. "So, what are you up to?"

"Oh, just trying to clear my head," Cana said nervously. Usually when the card mage is trying to figure out how to approach her father, she does so away from others. This is her problem to take care of after all.

"Is that why you snuck out of the party?" while this went unnoticed by the majority of the guild, since it's fairly common for most of the younger mages to leave the guild before the brawls get too out of hand, Natsu just barely managed to see the card mage sneak out. If it wasn't for the troubled look on her face, he wouldn't have given it a second thought.

"I, uh, don't know what you're talking about," Cana needed to think of way to change the topic and quick otherwise she'll have to explain a lot more than she wants to. As much as she trusts Natsu, this is still a personal issue for her. Unfortunately, the pinkette won't be letting that happen.

"Does it have to something to do Gildarts?" one of the many things the Dual Fire Slayer was taught was to pay attention to subtleties in actions of everyone around him. There was a something in the Cana's actions that tipped him off. Something seemed to be off with her since the Crash mage arrived.

"What, no, what makes you think that?!" Cana blurted out hastily. Wincing at her own reaction, the card mage realizes that she just gave it away. 'Damn, why did you have to be nosy?'

"Because we're friends," if a friend of his needs help than he'll go out of his way to help them in any way he can. "Want to talk about it?" even if all he can do is lend an ear.

Great, now what is she supposed to do. Should she tell the pinkette, deny everything, or just run and deal with this mess later. As far as she is concerned the latter of the two options is far more appealing. The problem is how long can she go before Natsu convinces her to come clean. With how persistent he is, it's only a matter of time before the cat comes out of the bag.

"Did I ever tell you why I joined Fairy Tail?" Cana asked, though she already knew the answer. The only living person that knows her reason is Makarov. And like Natsu, the guild master has been trying to help overcome her own fear. "I came here to find my Father" she answered as she took a seat on a nearby bench. "And I found him." The Card mage said, internally she struggles to find the right words.

"Let me guess, Gildarts is your dad and he doesn't know?" Let it be known that, like his father, subtlety was something that Natsu wasn't too good with.

"Wait, how did you know?!" how, how could he have possibly known. Her answer only came in the form of the pinkette pointing towards his nose. And like that, Cana remembers a conversation she with Natsu about how strong Dragon Slayer senses are, specifically their sense of smell in this case. Additionally, the card mage remembers the dual slayer explaining that there are a few reasons why some people share similar scents such as similar magics, certain interests/hobbies, and family ties. Of course, he would find out after catching their scents. "Wait a minute, does that mean the other Dragon Slayers know too?!" Cana's eyes widened at this realization. If Natsu was able to figure out her secret, then surely the others had to have figured it out too.

"I wouldn't worry about that. If they have, Rogue and Wendy are smart enough to not mention it. And they'll keep Sting from saying anything." Natsu said, resulting in Cana feeling both relieved that they wouldn't spill her secret and annoyed that so many people learned her secret in such a short time.

"Anyways, yeah, Gildarts is my dad." Cana said, trying to get back on track while also saving that last part for another time. "Ever since I first saw him, I've wanted to tell Gildarts that I'm his daughter. But every time I see him… I get scared and chicken out at the last minute." Every time the crash mage comes by the guild, it takes every ounce of her will power to tell him and every time her fears get the best of her. For years now, it's been one failed attempt after another.

"What's keeping you from telling him?"

"I… I don't know. Gildarts is just this huge figure. He's considered the strongest mage in the guild for a reason. I mean, would he really want someone like me for a daughter." Cana said, the sullen expression on her face tells just how much her own trepidation is affecting her.

"Why wouldn't he," Natsu said, breaking Cana out of her stupor. "You're really smart, you're a great strategist and you're easily one of the friendliest people in the guild," the pinkette listed one thing after another, resulting in the card mage blushing lightly at his compliments. "Sure, you're not as strong as Gildarts, but what do you expect? He's only that strong because of all his years of hard work. You can't really expect someone as young as you to compare to him yet."

Processing his words, Cana had to admit he has a point. On many occasions, Makarov has told her similar things in his attempts to help the poor girl. The card mage has only been training in her magic for a few years now. It would take years, maybe even decades, before she could come close to comparing to Gildarts in terms of pure skill in magic. "I know you're right, but I just don't know." Cana said, her own fears still lingering.

"Think about it this way, what's the worst that happens? Gildarts doesn't accept you're his daughter." Natsu asks, causing the brunette's eyes to widen in fear of what might happen. "If that happens then he's a bastard that's not worth getting to know, not to mention an idiot. At least you'll have some closure. Although, I doubt he would react like that. He doesn't seem like the type of person to do that."

Judging from the stories Cana heard from her mom and how he treats everyone in the guild, she doesn't think Gildarts is like that either. Admittedly her fears are unfounded to a degree and have very little, if any at all, reasoning behind them. "I know, I'm just not ready to tell him."

By this point Natsu knew that Cana just needed a little push to help get her over her fears. "Well if there's anything I can do to help just let me know. If you want to wait till you get stronger than you're more than welcome to come train with me and my team. Or if you want one of us to be there with you when you tell him just ask. You know we're more than willing to help you out. Just be sure not to take too long. With the kind of jobs Gildarts takes, you don't want to lose the chance to tell him just because something horrible happened." Was that last part the best thing to tell the card mage, probably not, especially with the look of fear that came across Cana's face. But, at the very least, it gave Cana reason to tell Gildarts sooner than later. "Obviously he's careful enough to not to let someone or something catch him off guard. But there's always an unknown factor that people can't plan for."

Cana understood what Natsu was trying to get at, he's trying to give her a reason to take a chance and tell Gildarts sooner than later. The last part of what the pinkette had said had terrified her. The prospect of loosing her dad before she has the chance to tell him she's his daughter scared the card mage more than the possibility of Gildarts flat out denying her. 'Dammit, why did he have to use such a cheap move.' Cana thought to herself.

"I'm not trying to scare you; I just don't want to see you beating yourself up over what you didn't do." Natsu said to calm down the clearly worried card mage.

If the small smile on her face was anything to go by, he succeeded at least a little bit.

"Thanks, Natsu," Cana said, giving him an appreciative smile. "I don't think I'm ready to tell Gildarts yet but I not as worried as I was earlier."

"No problem just let me know if there is anything I can do to help. Oh, by the way; if Gildarts does refuse to accept you're his daughter, I'm going to kick his ass" Natsu said, earning him an amused giggle from the brunette.

"If that fight was anything to go by, I don't know how well that'll work out for you" Cana teased the pinkette. "So, are you going to head back to the guild?"

"Nope, I'm still hiding from Gildarts. I wasn't joking when I said he was trying to give me the talk." Natsu replied, unintentionally giving Cana a reason to be disappointed in her father. "So, want to hang out for a bit before I have to run like hell."

"Sure," Cana answered, at least seeing the pinkette run from her drunk dad will be more then entertaining.

 **Elsewhere**

In the sparsely lit hallways of the Tartaros guild, Sif made his way to the throne room. It wasn't everyday that he was summoned by Master Mard Geer. The only time he was ever summoned was when the master has a job for him, surely this time will be no different. As he walked through the halls, most of his larger figure was hidden by the ragged cloak he was wearing. The only thing visible was his face which had a few aged scars, his pitch-black eyes and long messy dark gray hair that went past his shoulders.

"Lord Mard Geer," Sif said as he arrived in the throne room and kneeled before the guild master.

"Sif," Mard Geer said as he acknowledged the demon's presence. "Mard Geer has a job for you and your hunting pack." While no where near as strong as his Nine Demon Gates, the graying demon was more than capable of carrying out the jobs the needed a touch of subtlety. Not that the etherious guild master would ever admit such a thing. Why should he. The fact that he acknowledges this lesser demon's presence should be enough.

"It has come to Mard Geer's attention that one of Lord Zeref's creations has been in the company of humans for some time. Go and retrieve our creator's wayward creation. Feel free to eliminate any human that gets in your way."

"My lord, it will be taken care of." Sif said as he made his way to leave. There was no point in staying or asking any unnecessary questions. Another demon was bound to show up shortly with the details he would need. Additionally, it's never a wise choice to waste Mard Geer's time. Those who did tended to live shorter lives.

 **Yay, finally done with a new chapter. Sorry, I know it's been a ridiculously long time since I updated but so many things that just keep coming up with work and personal stuff that I just didn't have any time or energy to commit to writing. That's why this chapter is a filler chapter so I can get back in the habit of writing on a somewhat regular basis. Hopefully it won't take so long to finish the next chapter. Thankfully it's a mostly action-packed chapter that I have planned out most of it so there's no reason why it should take so long. Luckily the only thing holding it up is me trying to decide how violent I want this next chapter to be. Also, Natsu and Sayla won't be the only ones doing any fighting.**

 **Real quick, I want to give a shout out to AnonDr for suggesting a team name for Natsu, Sayla, and Mystogan. From this point forward their team name will be Team Fallen Fairy.**

 **Quick harem update. If this part doesn't interest you go ahead and skip ahead. Someone, I don't remember who unfortunately, asked if I would consider shrinking down the harem. Originally, I wanted to keep the harem small for a couple different reasons but Fairy Tail has too many waifus. I'm not saying I'm going to shrink it down right now I'm just curious what everyone else thinks about this.**

 **Onto the Reviews:**

 **FT7NoX: I completely agree, as much as I love reading stories where Natsu is OP, I think it's incredibly boring when he's on par or stronger than Gildarts when he's still a kid.**

 **Ruberforumfree: Natsu knew that the bandits weren't going to take his offer seriously, he just gave them the option in the off chance they would take it.**

 **Carmelo Hernandez: Laxus will definitely be one of Natsu's rivals in this story, the other one will be introduced in the chapter after the next one, I'm just having trouble figuring out where to introduce the two and how to set up what I have planned them and their rivalry.**

 **BON6379: Unfortunately, Kyouka won't be apart of the harem and won't show up until it's time for what I have planned for the Tartaros arc.**

 **AnonDr: I really love that name and it fits really well.**

 **Lenorebev: There are two reasons, the first one for why I don't include most of the guild is because of my inexperience in writing and I do have a hard time with having a lot of characters in a single scene without it becoming to convoluted. The second reason is that for since this is still the earlier chapters I would rather focus on the characters that will play a bigger part of the story. And unfortunately, Gray, and to the same extent Lucy, won't be playing that big of a part in this story outside of the arcs where there important.**

 **Spartan of Rome: So do I, but I keep failing to make that happen.**

 **Erasenpai946: now**

 **Anyways, that's it for the reviews.**

 **If you have any questions about the story feel free to ask it however you want. If you do so in a review I'll answer it in the next update or send a PM and I'll answer as soon as possible. Also if you want to know the status of the next chapter then feel free to ask whenever you feel like it.**

 **Real quick, since I'm a shameless attention whore, I have another story in Fate/Stay Night. I'm currently working on the second chapter and just finished redoing the first chapter. Also I have multiple stories I'm trying to work on at the same time so keep an eye out for them.**

 **That's it for the AN**

 **Again sorry for the long gap in between updates and for the really short and rushed chapter**

 **Till next time.**

 **Mreh.**


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